Iraq Offers Inspectors 'Unfettered Access'

Sept. 24 -- An adviser to Saddam Hussein told reporters today that U.N. arms inspectors would have "unfettered access" to any site in Iraq — hours after British Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled a long-awaited dossier on Iraq's weapons program.

In a press conference in Baghdad, Saddam adviser Amir al-Sa'adi was asked if the weapons inspectors could go wherever they wanted.

"Wherever they want to go," he replied. "This will be the subject of practical arrangement, in order so there's no misunderstanding about the procedures that have to be adopted during inspection. Mr. [Hans] Blix [the United Nation's chief weapons inspector] wants to do this coming here. We are complying."

The remarks came on the same day Blair released a dossier claiming the Iraqi leader has "military plans" to use chemical and biological weapons that could be launched with 45 minutes notice.

The 50-page document also said Iraq was seeking to build a nuclear capability and had tried to acquire significant quantities of uranium, as well as nuclear technology from Africa.

The dossier was based on information from intelligence sources and U.N. weapons inspectors, and was made public hours before Blair convened a special session of Parliament to debate a possible military strike against Iraq.

The international community's failure to act against Saddam, the report maintained, would "risk undermining the authority of the U.N., whose resolutions he defies, but more importantly and in the longer term, we place at risk the lives and prosperity of our own people."

But Iraq immediately dismissed the document as "baseless" and called it evidence that Blair was "acting as part of the Zionist campaign against Iraq."

Iraq has maintained that it has no weapons of mass destruction, but Britain and the United States reject the claim.

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The dossier comes as a part of a build-up of pressure for action against Iraq. The United States is leading a campaign at the United Nations for a tough new resolution on a country it has labeled part of an "axis of evil."