Conciliatory Saddam says let inspectors do their work

Saddam Hussein has sounded a conciliatory note towards the United Nations weapons inspectors after his deputy accused them of spying for the United States and Israel.

In his first public comment on the UN mission, the Iraqi President said yesterday that monitoring should continue because it was an opportunity to disprove American claims that his regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

President Saddam's swift intervention on the inspection issue indicated alarm about the publicity given to Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan's comments – made at a critical time after inspections of an official palace and with Iraq about to make a declaration to the UN.

Mr Ramadan's remarks, made to a visiting Egyptian delegation, were meant only for an Arab audience.

At a gathering of the Ba'ath party and military hierarchy during the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, President Saddam said: "Some might claim that we did not give the inspectors the proper chance to disprove American allegations that Iraq produced weapons of mass destruction during the period of their absence. For that reason we shall provide them with a chance."

However, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, voiced continued concern that even a clean bill of health from the UN would not save Iraq from an attack. "Washington wants war ... the whole issue of weapons of mass destruction is a hoax. They will find another pretext to attack," he said.