http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011219/ts/un_iraq.html

Wednesday December 19 5:56 PM ET
UN Warns US Against War Expansion
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) on Wednesday warned the United States against expanding it wars on terrorism to Iraq, saying there is no evidence connecting Baghdad to the Sept. 11 attacks.

At the same time, Annan urged Iraq to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return to the country, a key demand of the United States and other U.N. Security Council members.

``I have not seen any evidence linking Iraq to what happened on Sept. 11,'' Annan told a year-end news conference. ``Any attempt to do that can exacerbate the situation and raise tensions in a region that is already under strain because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.''

With the Taliban and al-Qaida forces on the run in Afghanistan (news - web sites), there has been heightened speculation in Washington that Iraq, which is on the U.S. list of nations sponsoring terrorism, might be the next target in the war against terrorism.

The big concern is that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) has anthrax and could release it in the United States, with the potential death toll running into the thousands. Some officials in Washington argue that a pre-emptive strike is the best way to deal with the possibility.

President Bush (news - web sites) said recently that countries which develop weapons of mass destruction intended for terrorist purposes ``will be held accountable.'' There has been other evidence of sabre-rattling, but when asked specifically about taking the U.S. campaign to Iraq, the official U.S. line has been that the unfinished business in Afghanistan must be completed before the next phase begins.

Iraq has been under U.N. sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and the sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. weapons inspectors declare that its weapons of mass destruction have been dismantled. The inspectors left Baghdad in December 1998, and the Iraqi government has barred them from returning.

``I think the pressure is on them to respond to the council's request to return the inspectors,'' Annan said. ``All their friends have encouraged them to respond and allow the inspectors to go back.''

But the secretary-general said that when he met Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri during last month's ministerial meeting of the General Assembly ``he repeated the Iraqi position and had nothing new to tell me.''

Iraq maintains that it has already complied with U.N. weapons inspectors, and has demanded that sanctions be lifted immediately.

Annan said that as far as he is aware the debate about expanding the war is still going on, mainly in Washington, and ``no decisions have been taken.''

``I have indicated on several occasions that I think it would be unwise to attack Iraq now,'' he said.

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