Iraq destroys second batch of missiles as Arab states join calls for Saddam to quit

Iraq dismantled six more of its stock of al-Samoud 2 missiles yesterday, bringing the total destroyed to 10, and held talks with the UN on chemical and biological weapons.

A decision to revisit the issue of VX, a nerve gas, and anthrax, which Iraq says it has already destroyed, came as one of Saddam Hussein's closest advisers declared America "must not be given any excuse to start the war".

Dimitri Perricos, the head of Unmovic (the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission), is expected to press Iraqi officials for proof that they have been destroyed.

Lieutenant-General Amer al-Saadi, President Saddam's chief weapons adviser, said that the inspectors had been given detailed reports by Iraqi scientists on how and where the agents were scrapped. "In interviews, the UN were told how this was done," the general said. "This shows that they were destroyed, otherwise how could the scientists have known the process?"

Mr Perricos said he had agreed with Baghdad on a timetable of "a few days or a very short few weeks" to destroy the 120 al-Samoud 2 missiles, as well as components, software and machines used to make them.

Lt-Gen Saadi said it was physically impossible to destroy the missiles at a greater pace than six a day. He insisted that they were legitimate weapons and that Iraq was making "a great sacrifice" in disposing of them. He said: "The weapons are quite useful. They are not, however, decisive in the battlefield and scrapping them is something which has been calculated."

Hans Blix, the UN's chief weapons inspector, has described the destruction of al-Samoud missiles as "very significant". Washington and London dismissed the move as no more than a "game of deception".

The meeting between UN inspectors and Iraqi officials on VX and anthrax would mainly be a technical matter, to analyse Baghdad's proposals for "quantitative verification". The Iraqis say that remains of the containers in which the chemical and biological agents were destroyed should be tested to prove that they were destroyed after the 1990-91 Gulf War.

The UN inspectors had interviewed Iraqi scientists in private, Lt-Gen Saadi said. However, two other interviewees demanded that tape recordings be made and a "friend" should be present during the questioning, and this was dismissed as unacceptable by the UN.

In the meantime, the diplomatic and military activities continue to increase. An American attack is now expected to be weeks away.

American military officials claimed that Iraqi fighter jets had entered the southern "no-fly zone" twice last week. On each occasion, single MiG-25 aircraft flew 70 miles into the zone, seemingly to test US reaction plans.

In Baghdad, authorities held an exhibition of emergency equipment that will be used in the event of US and British air attacks and the subsequent war. It included gas detectors.

On the diplomatic front, Naji Sabri, Iraq's Foreign Minister, called the United Arab Emirates "Zionist agents" for making the first public call by an Arab country for President Saddam to step down. "This is a paper that comes from Ariel Sharon and it found its way quickly to the garbage pail. There's not one honest Arab who will accept a message from Sharon," Mr Sabri said.

But last night, Bahrain and Kuwait declared their backing. Bahrain's King was quoted as saying that the proposal from the UAE's President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, was "honest advice to the Iraqi leadership". Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said the Iraqi leader should step down to spare the people and the region another war, reported WAM, the official United Arab Emirates news agency.