Will Saddam Listen to His Own People?

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