Iraq hints it may accept weapons inspectors

Iraq hinted today that Saddam Hussein might allow UN arms inspectors to return if they work to a deadline.

The suggestion indicates how Iraq might try to resolve its long-standing dispute over the inspectors when Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri meets UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on March 7.

President George Bush put Iraq on notice last year that it must accept the return of weapons inspectors or face the consequences. Subsequently there have been numerous reports from Washington that the United States is considering a major military strike on Iraq.

The inspectors, whom Iraq has barred since 1998, are charged with determining whether Baghdad has destroyed its long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction - as Iraq must do in order for the lifting of sanctions imposed since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

‘‘If the United States and Britain were serious about their inspection claims, they would put time limits on the inspectors’ work in Iraq, and on the subsequent lifting of the sanctions. If this happens, there could be another word on this subject,’’ the newspaper Babil said in a front-page editorial today.

Babil is owned by Odai Hussein, Saddam’s eldest son.

The editorial went on to accuse Washington of trying to allow the inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction ‘‘forever’’ so that UN sanctions continue indefinitely.

Iraq maintains it has already destroyed all its mass-destruction weapons, complying fully with what Security Council resolutions require for the lifting of sanctions.

Babil called on the United States to adopt a ‘‘civilized approach’’ toward Iraq, adding that the country had the ‘‘world’s biggest reserves of oil.’’