Iraq says it will answer dossier

The Iraqi Cabinet today vowed to respond in detail to claims by British prime minister Tony Blair that Saddam Hussein is pursuing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

A spokesman said: “Blair’s dossier is full of lies and the inspection team will be able in a short time to verify that such claims are baseless.”

The British government yesterday released a dossier saying Saddam is developing chemical and biological weapons, is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and has extended the range of Iraq’s ballistic missiles.

Iraq sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on September 16 agreeing to accept weapons inspectors without conditions.

But the United States is sceptical that Baghdad will live up to that promise. Annan said on Monday that he has not heard from Iraq since the letter.

UN inspectors left Iraq in December 1998, complaining that Baghdad was refusing to cooperate. The departure was followed by four days of punishing US and British air strikes.

The United Nations imposed harsh sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The sanctions cannot be lifted until UN inspectors certify that the country’s weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed.