Iraq goes on war footing

Saddam Hussein has placed Iraq on a war footing, placing his son and three trusted lieutenants in charge of four military regions to defend against a US-led invasion.

The decree was issued last night on the eve of a planned summit in the Azores in which US president George Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish premier Jose Maria Aznar will consider whether to continue diplomacy to disarm Iraq or opt for war.

According to the Iraqi News Agency, Saddam’s son, Qusai, was placed in charge of the regime’s heartland – Baghdad and the president’s hometown Tikrit.

Saddam’s cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid was placed in charge of the key southern sector facing US and British troops massed in Kuwait. Al-Majid is known among Saddam’s opponents as “Ali Chemical” for his role in the 1988 campaign against rebellious Kurds in northern Iraq in which thousands of Kurds died, many in chemical attacks.

Saddam’s deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was placed in command of the strategic northern region.

The central Euphrates district, which includes the Shiite Muslim holy sites, was placed under Mazban Khader Hadi, a member of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council.

Saddam himself retained sole authority to order the use of surface-to-surface missiles and aviation resources, the decree said.

“Each command of a region is in charge of defence affairs within its geographic boundaries and to lead and use all the financial, human, party organisation, the people and military division to confront any foreign aggression aimed at Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and security as well as maintaining internal security,” the decree said.

Despite the decree, it appeared Iraq had not given up hope that it could avoid a US-led attack by dealing with United Nations inspectors, who are trying to determine if Saddam is still hiding weapons of mass destruction.

Yesterday Saddam’s scientific adviser, Lt Gen Amer al-Saadi, said the government had invited chief UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to Baghdad to discuss outstanding disarmament issues.

At UN headquarters in New York, Blix said he would study the invitation and discuss it with the council. Asked if the Iraqi invitation was a stunt, he told CNN,“I certainly wouldn’t call it a stunt. ... We’ll have to give serious thought to what the answer will be.”

A US official said inspectors “would be wise to wait until after the summit before making any determination about going to Baghdad”.

With nearly 250,000 US and British troops in the Gulf ready to strike, Iraq has been emboldened by stiff opposition to war at the security council, where France and other nations have insisted inspectors should be given more time. As pressure on Baghdad has increased in past months, it has been making gestures to show it is co-operating with inspectors.

France, Russia and Germany issued a joint statement yesterday insisting there was no reason for war, but calling for foreign ministers to meet this week at the security council to set a timetable for Iraq to disarm.

French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin said his country would accept a “tight” timetable for disarmament but not an ultimatum that could automatically trigger war – as Washington seeks. Still, he acknowledged war was becoming inevitable. “It is difficult to imagine what could stop this machine,” he told France 2 television.

Iraqi UN Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri said “We cannot stop hoping that diplomacy may prevail, a political and diplomatic solution may be successful. We are doing our best,” he said, but added: “If they want to launch the war, nobody can stop them.”