Will Saddam Listen to His Own People? - 12 November, 2002 - News

The Iraqi parliament rejects UN resolution. The world awaits Saddam’s words

The National Assembly (parliament) of Iraq rejected resolution 1441 of the United Nations Security Council. This resolution stipulates military inspections in Iraq in order to destroy supposed weapons of mass destruction. Iraqi deputies said that UN military inspectors must not be authorized to access their country. The decree that was issued by the Iraqi parliament says that their position coincides with the opinion of the people of Iraq.

The document entitled the political leadership of Iraq to make an adequate decision in order to defend their country. It was also added that the parliament would support any decision of the political leadership.

Representatives of the League of Arab Nations called upon the Iraqi leadership to agree to the UN resolution. Even Saudi Arabia (whose authority is indisputable in the Arab world) tried to get the Iraqi deputies to do so. Members of the Saudi government held a session on Monday and called upon Iraq to avoid the danger of another disastrous war and approve of the resolution.

Saudi Minister for Information Fuad bin Abdul Salam Al Farsi released an official statement for Iraq. According to the statement, the Saudi government hopes that the UN Security Council’s resolution and its implementation will put an end to the tense situation in the region and will help to get rid of the military constituent of the crisis.

The discussion in the Iraqi parliament was very hot, requiring Saddam Hussein’s son Uday to intervene. Uday asked the parliament to approve of the resolution. Uday said that the country must make a precise decision. In his note to the members of the National Assembly, Saddam Hussein’s son wrote that Iraq needs to pass the UN resolution.

The situation is becoming very hot for Iraq. Most likely, Saddam will not dare reject the UN resolution, but decide to allow internationals inspectors into Iraq. It is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, not to mention the fact that the current situation does not give a wide range of choices to Saddam. The Iraqi leader is not really willing to bend over backwards and get nothing in return. He would definitely like to show his people and the Arab world that this is just a temporal concession, taking into consideration the fact that the people of Iraq support their parliament.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov