U.S. rejects invitation to inspect Iraq weapons

? Iraq has made its second offer in less than a week to open its weapons systems to the world, overtures guardedly welcomed by the United Nations but rejected by Washington as a ploy to avoid U.S. military strikes.

Iraqi parliamentary speaker Sadoun Hammadi on Monday invited U.S. lawmakers and experts of their choice to visit Iraq for three weeks to search sites or facilities where they suspect weapons of mass destruction are hidden.

Hammadi’s invitation follows last week’s offer from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri to let chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix visit Iraq for technical talks that could lead to inspections resuming.

Both offers have been dismissed by Washington. President Bush has warned Baghdad to comply with U.N. resolutions concerning weapons inspections or face unspecified consequences. U.S. officials say visits by lawmakers would not satisfy the president’s demand for rigorous inspections in Iraq.

But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters Monday that Blix could accept Baghdad’s invitation if Saddam Hussein lets weapons inspectors return. The inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 ahead of U.S. airstrikes.

A 1999 Security Council resolution requires U.N. weapons inspectors to visit Iraq and then determine what questions Iraq must still answer about its chemical, biological, nuclear and missile programs.

Toppling Hussein is a U.S. policy goal, and Baghdad’s invitations come amid speculation of a U.S. war against Iraq.

However, Bush administration officials say that to date no decision has been made to strike Iraq.

The United States, which led the 1991 Gulf War coalition that ousted Iraqi forces from Kuwait, accuses Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned chemical, nuclear and biological weapons programs and of supporting terrorism.