Below is a round-up of media comment and reports from the Middle East on the Iraqi weapons crisis, as the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, acknowledged that his mission to Baghdad was probably the last diplomatic hope to avert military action over Baghdad's refusal to allow free access to UN weapons inspectors.

Turkey welcomes Annan Baghdad visit

Turkey has welcomed the decision of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to go to Baghdad on Friday.

Turkey's Incirlik airbase was used for bombing raids on Iraq during the Gulf War

"We undoubtedly welcome the UN secretary-general's planned visit to Baghdad," Foreign Ministry spokesman Necati Utkan said, in remarks broadcast by Turkish TV.

"As this is being called a last chance by all interested parties, we hope that this chance will be put to good use. Past experience has shown us that any military operation in the area is greatly damaging to regional countries, especially Turkey," he added.

Egypt wants to help Iraq move towards peaceful solution

Egyptian Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif said on Wednesday that Egypt's Council of Ministers wanted to help Iraq take advantage of opportunities for a peaceful solution to the crisis with the UN, Egyptian radio reported.

Egypt's President Husni Mubarak has warned of a "massacre" if Iraq fails to comply

"The Council of Ministers stressed that Egypt and President Husni Mubarak are eager to explain the facts of the situation to the Iraqi leadership so that it can make the right decision at the right time and take advantage of the available chances for a peaceful solution, while implementing the Security Council resolutions, so that the Iraqi people can avoid further suffering and the region can be saved from further complications," the radio quoted the minister as saying.

Iran's Khatami in talks with Iraqi minister

Text of report by Iranian TV on 18th February

Mohammad Khatami

President [Mohammad] Khatami today received the visiting Iraq Foreign Minister. At this meeting, the president referred to the history of American intervention in the region and once again reiterated the Islamic Republic of Iran's opposition to a military attack on Iraq.

Stressing that America's military attack on Iraq would be detrimental to the region, Mr Khatami urged Iraq to implement fully the resolutions of the UN Security Council so as to deprive America of any excuse and pretext.

The president then stressed the importance of efforts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC] to resolve the Iraqi crisis by diplomatic means and reiterated that the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the current president of the OIC, would continue these efforts.

The Iraqi foreign minister, in turn, expressed gratitude for the endeavours made by Iran, in its capacity as the OIC president, to resolve the current crisis.

Source: Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1, Tehran, in Persian 1730 gmt 18 Feb 98

Iranian President sends message to Saudi King Fahd on crisis

Text of report by Iranian radio on 19th February

The crisis has dominated press coverage

A written message from President [Mohammad] Khatami to the Saudi king was delivered to King Fahd at a meeting in Riyad last night between Mr [Mohammad] Sadr, the deputy foreign minister for African and Arab affairs.

According to a Central News Unit report, King Fahd thanked him for delivering President Khatami's message. He expressed concern about the current developments in the Persian Gulf region and called for a logical and reasonable solution to the Iraqi crisis.

He also stressed the importance of the expansion of relations and the exchange of views on regional issues between the two countries.

Mr Sadr described our country's efforts to resolve peacefully the Iraqi crisis and said that the expansion of Tehran-Riyad relations would result in more calm and security to the region.

Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, in Persian 0430 gmt 19 Feb 98

Libya's Gaddafi says US violating UN charter

Muammar Gaddafi

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi told Libyan TV on Wednesday night that a military strike against Iraq would be in violation of the charter of the United Nations.

"The whole operation is false from start to finish. The whole operation is outside the UN Charter, that is, it is a blatant violation of the UN Charter by America," Gaddafi said.

"With regard to the use of force, only the UN Security Council decides on the use of force and is the one which sets up a commission composed of the chiefs-of-staff of the member states in order to determine the number of troops, their mission, the duration of their mission and the place where they are to be used; and all this under the UN," he said.

"What is taking place now is outside this charter, it is chaos," Gaddafi told Libyan TV.

Israeli envoy warns against "appeasement"

In Israel, people are preparing for the worst: The BBC's Lyse Doucet reports (Dur: 3' 25")

The Israeli ambassador to Germany, Avi Primor, has warned against pursuing a policy of appeasement towards Iraqi President Saddam Husayn, the German news agency ddpADN reported.

"Dictators only back down if you do not give in to them," Primor said in Bonn, adding that he was sceptical about the planned visit to Baghdad on Friday by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Primor said Husayn was a "bloodthirsty dictator pursuing a policy clearly aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction and aggression towards neighbouring states" .

Primor also denied Israeli newspaper reports alleging that Russia was acting as a go-between in secret talks about a non-aggression pact between Israel and Iraq, the agency reported.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

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