'Saddam's 6 month deadline to lift UN ban unacceptable'

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 20: A six-month deadline set by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for the lifting of UN sanctions against Iraq is "unacceptable," US Ambassador Bill Richardson said Monday, reports AFP.

"That's unacceptable," Richardson told reporters here, referring to Saddam's threat to expel UN weapons inspectors unless sanctions are lifted in six months' time.

"The Security Council has rejected it. It must be that he feels desperate," Richardson added.

Richardson made the statement as UN Special Commission Chief Richard Butler held talks with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, aimed at securing full access for the inspectors verifying the dismantling of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

"The most important development will be the result of Butler's trip, whether the UN inspectors get full, unconditional access, Richardson said.

Butler said Monday that he would seek clarification from Aziz on the six-month deadline mentioned by Saddam.

He notably wanted to know whether "the clock starts ticking" from Saddam's speech on Saturday or started on November 20, as had initially been proposed by the Iraqi Parliament.

In any case, said Butler, setting a time limit was "a degree of arbitrariness that makes no practical sense."AP says, arriving amid a new crisis, chief UN weapons inspector Richard Butler rejected on Monday an Iraqi deadline for arms inspectors to finish their work and again accused Baghdad of concealing banned weapons material.

Butler also said that no sites in Iraq, including President Saddam Hussein's palaces, should remain off limits to his teams.

Noting that the inspectors' work "could be done quite quickly with full Iraqi cooperation," Butler refused to be held to a deadline.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Saturday that he would suspend cooperation with the inspectors if they did not finish their work by May 20.

On Monday, Butler echoed the accusations of UN arms inspectors who say Iraq is concealing crucial documents and misleading the inspectors. "There is a concealment programme in this country," he said.

The United Nations has repeatedly demanded that Iraq cooperate with its inspectors working to dismantle Iraqi programmes to build long-range missiles and chemical and biological weapons. The United States has not ruled out the use of military force.

The inspectors must complete their job before the UN Security Council will consider lifting the crushing economic sanctions it imposed after Baghdad's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Iraq has said repeatedly that it has destroyed all of its weapons of mass destruction and is concealing nothing.

In November, Iraq threw Americans on the UN teams out of the country, accusing them of spying. The US beefed up its military forces in the area and Iraq agreed to let the inspectors back in under a Russian-brokered deal.

Butler's visit came a day after Iraqi officials, fearful that their confrontation with Butler's inspectors could lead to a US military strike, urged Iraqis to volunteer for weapons training.

Also Monday, about 5,000 Iraqis demonstrated in front of the inspectors' Baghdad headquarters, many chanting "Butler is an American agent" and "With our blood and souls we will defend you, Saddam." The demonstrators, led by government-sponsored trade unions, also burned American flags.

And Iraqi authorities organised a funeral procession in central Baghdad for 73 children they said died Monday from a lack of medical supplies.