Iraq: Inspectors will see truth

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq said Tuesday that returning U.N. weapons inspectors could learn the truth about the country's alleged weapons of mass destruction "within a reasonable time," but claimed the United States still might find a new reason to attack.\nIt was the country's first public comment after bowing to Arab and world pressure and agreeing to allow the unconditional return of inspectors following a nearly four-year absence.\nDeputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said Iraq had balked because it was not sure if U.S. and British demands were "a genuine concern or a pretext."\n"If the inspectors come and act honestly, professionally in order ... to search for the truth ... they can reach the truth within a reasonable time. But if the Americans are using this as a pretext, they might use some other way in order to commit an aggression against Iraq," Aziz said after opening a "solidarity conference" in Baghdad. In attendance were lawmakers and other delegates from around the world.\nAziz called on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council to monitor inspectors closely to ensure they do not overstep their mission.\nHe said Iraq hoped the return of inspectors "will lead as soon as possible to the lifting of sanctions and normalizing the situation."\nHeavy pressure was applied to Iraq by Arab neighbors who fear a U.S.-Iraq war would destabilize an already volatile region.\nBaghdad's reversal of its long-standing condition that the return of weapons inspectors be linked to the end of trade sanctions came days after Saudi Arabia hinted the United States would be able to strike Iraq from the kingdom if the United Nations approved an attack.\nEgypt, among the most influential Arab states, had said it would support a U.S. strike on Iraq if it were done under U.N. auspices.\nIraqi officials, citing comments from top officials in the Bush administration, speculated in the past that the United States would attack even if U.N. inspectors were allowed to return.\nThe inspection regime was imposed on Iraq at the end of the Gulf War in 1991 to determine if Baghdad was continuing to make chemical and biological weapons and attempting to build nuclear arms and the missiles to deliver them.