Bush dishes out dollars to close in on Saddam

LONDON - The United States will begin financing covert operations by opposition groups in Iraq in an attempt to gather information about President Saddam Hussein's plans, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

Quoting an unnamed spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress (INC), the largest opposition group, the newspaper said the money would be used to bribe senior officials and, if necessary, help them to leave the country.

It would also help to pay for a growing network inside Iraq, which is hoped will reach into Saddam's inner circle.

The Bush Administration held talks with Iraqi opposition groups in Washington this month.

Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld agreed with the delegation on the need to establish democracy in Iraq if the US goal of ousting Saddam was realised.

US President George W. Bush defended his Iraq policy from criticism within his own Republican Party, saying he would consult others but make decisions based on the "latest intelligence".

The Sunday Times did not give an amount for the financing of clandestine operations, but said the US State Department had agreed to free US$8 million ($17.9 million) to finance public activities such as a television station and newspapers that had shut through lack of money.

A spokesman for the INC said the money would dramatically boost its clandestine operations under way in Iraq, which cost about US$350,000 a month.

The Sunday Times also quoted an unnamed Iraqi opposition source as saying that Saddam's regime was increasingly vulnerable.

"The Army won't fight for Saddam Hussein," the source said. "Our analysis is that they are too weak to fight against him, but they will not fight for him."

Bush, who calls Iraq part of an axis of evil, claims an attack on Saddam is justified because Baghdad is trying to build an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Iraq denies the charges.

Meanwhile, Iraq and Russia are close to signing a US$40 billion economic co-operation plan, said Iraq's ambassador to Moscow, a sign that the Kremlin continued to pursue a foreign policy at odds with Washington.

The statement by Ambassador Abbas Khalaf came amid indications that Russia was maintaining or improving ties with Iran and North Korea, the two other countries in Bush's axis of evil.

And German and US officials confirmed at the weekend that the US ambassador to Berlin, Dan Coats, had questioned German officials about Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's opposition to attacking Iraq, an indication that Schroeder had irked Washington.

Russia, a longtime ally of Iraq, has forcefully warned against a possible US invasion, despite President Vladimir Putin's strong support for the post-September 11 anti-terrorism coalition.

Many opponents argue that an invasion cannot be justified without firm proof that Saddam's regime is developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

The chief United Nations weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said he could not say with certainty whether Iraq had such weapons.

"If we knew - if we had real evidence that they have weapons of mass destruction - we would bring it to the Security Council," he said.

The pending Russia-Iraq economic deal is likely to be seen by Washington as another blow to its efforts to marshal backing for an attack, but there was no immediate comment from the White House or the State Department.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also said it had no comment.

Moscow has supported lifting UN sanctions against Iraq, imposed after Baghdad's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Moscow hopes lifting sanctions would allow Baghdad to start paying off its US$7 billion Soviet-era debt and help to expand trade.

Khalaf said the new co-operation deal, which is to include new projects as well as the modernisation of some Soviet-built infrastructure, would not violate the sanctions.

In other developments yesterday:

* US and British jet fighters bombed targets in southern Iraq in the second raid in a week, the Iraqi Air Force Command said. There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from Britain or the US.

* Australian wheat deliveries to Iraq were set to resume, saving the federal Government from political embarrassment and the possible need for compensation.

- AGENCIES

Feature: Iraq

UNSCOM

Iraq Action Coalition (against Iraq sanctions

Arab net - Iraq resources

Iraq Oil-for-Food programme

Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq