Former UN arms inspector wants film to give Iraq a fair hearing on weapons

BAGHDAD, Aug 3 (AFP) -
Former UN arms inspector Scott Ritter said Thursday he
was making a documentary on disarmament in Iraq to
counter unsubstantiated and inaccurate information
Washington had spread about its weapons of mass
destruction.

"I feel there is a lot of inaccurate information,
irresponsible speculation today, particularly from the
US government ... about Iraq representing a great
threat to the region, (and) Iraq's continued
possession of weapons of mass destruction," Ritter
told a press conference.

"They do this without putting forward any facts of
substance to back this allegation," said the
38-year-old former US Marine captain once dubbed a
"cowboy" by UN staff and diplomats in Baghdad for his
intrusive inspection procedures.

His documentary was an attempt to "educate, to inform,
to encourage debate" among people in the United
States, where he said "Iraq has been demonised... to a
degree almost unprecedented since the end of World War
II."

"Some people claim that there is something left in
Iraq to find, and others say there is nothing left in
Iraq to find. But what is not happening is a fair and
objective debate."

"It is critical, if Iraq is going to be judged and
condemned for having weapons of mass destruction, they
should have at least have a fair hearing," he said.

Ritter urged the UN Security Council and the United
States to resolve the impasse over resolution 1284,
adopted last December, and allowing a renewable
suspension of sanctions if Iraq cooperated fully with
a new UN arms inspection team, UNMOVIC.

"The United States needs to get things together. It
needs to articulate a policy that allows for this
issue to be moved forward, a policy that has a chance
of success."

Ritter, one of the main inspectors for the former UN
disarmament commission in Iraq (UNSCOM), dismissed
rumours that he had been a CIA spy during his UN
service, as Baghdad had claimed at the time.

"I carried out activities that were fully authorised
by the United Nations," Ritter stressed. "At no time
was I ever in my professional life or at any time an
employee of the CIA."

Ritter arrived in Iraq on Saturday to film a
documentary showing that Baghdad had not rebuilt its
arsenal since UNSCOM's departure in December 1998,
just hours after US-British air raids on Iraq.

Ritter has interviewed Deputy Prime Minsiter Tareq
Aziz and Oil Minister Amer Rashid, as well as Amr
al-Sa'di, scientific advisor to the president, and
Hussam Mohammed Amin, director of the monitoring
department, for his documentary.

Ritter resigned from the United Nations in August
1998, citing lack of UN and US support for his tough
disarmament methods.

And in November of the same year he urged Washington
to target Saddam to force Baghdad to resume
cooperation with UN weapons inspectors.

But last month, Ritter called for UN sanctions which
were slapped on Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990 to be
lifted in return for the resumption of weapons
inspections.