HONG KONG - Former chief UN arms inspector Richard Butler said yesterday his biggest fear was that Israel will be drawn into a war against Iraq and use its nuclear weapons.

If the United States and its allies wage war on Baghdad, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could raise the stakes by attacking Israel, possibly igniting another Arab-Israeli war, Mr Butler told a business conference in Hong Kong.

"The prime minister of Israel has said it will not be restrained, that it will respond (if Iraq attacks it)," Mr Butler said. "My deepest fear in that context, if that occurs and the war escalates, is that Israel will use its nuclear weapons. "If that happens, the world would have been changed beyond recognition, and I would fear that if that happens the state of Israel would cease to exist."

Mr Butler stressed repeatedly that he believed the rest of the world had every reason to bring Saddam back under the law and even remove him from office. He dismissed Iraq's offer to allow the resumption of UN arms inspections as 'a stalling tactic'.

"That letter (to the UN) does not do the one thing that it was supposed to do, which was to give an absolute guarantee that if inspectors return to Iraq, they will be able to do their jobs unfettered," Mr Butler said.

Mr Butler's tenure at the UN Special Commission was marked by repeated disputes with Iraqi authorities over access to suspected arms sites. His inspectors left in 1998, just before a US-British bombing campaign aimed at punishing Iraq for its perceived stonewalling on inspections.

UN resolutions passed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 barred Baghdad from possessing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Iraq's recent offer appeared to aim at countering growing pressure from the United States for new Security Council action to ensure Baghdad had no weapons of mass destruction. US President George W. Bush has dismissed the Iraqi letter as a trick.

Butler also had harsh words for the UN Security Council and urged it to get tough with Saddam. "He (Saddam) continues to violate, he continues to refuse to allow credible verification of their claim that they have no such weapons, yet the Security Council has done nothing about it," Mr Butler said. "This in my view raises the question of responsibility...if the law maker and law enforcer is prepared to allow the outlaw get away with it, its authority is absolutely thrashed." - Reuters

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin called yesterday for a quick solution to the Iraqi crisis using political and diplomatic means, and suggested no new United Nations resolutions were necessary.

"We favour a rapid resolution of the situation by political and diplomatic means, on the basis of existing UN Security Council regulations and in line with the principles of international law," Mr Putin said as he accepted credentials from a group of new foreign emissaries to Moscow, including the ambassador from Iraq.

"The decision to resume the activities of UN inspectors in Iraq opens up the possibility for this decision to be put into action rapidly and allows the concerns of the international community to be allayed," Mr Putin said. Iraq announced last week that it would accept the unconditional return of international inspectors nearly four years after they were forced out. Sceptical of Baghdad's intentions, the United States and Britain are pushing for a new UN resolution that would tighten the timetable for Iraq to comply with previous resolutions and authorise force if it fails to do so. Russia, a longtime ally of Iraq and Security Council member that seeks to avoid a US attack on Baghdad, had expressed solid opposition to the idea of a new resolution until this week. Two ministers indicated flexibility.

On Monday, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying that Russia would not necessarily oppose a new UN resolution aimed at making the work of UN weapons' inspectors more effective. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters in Moscow that Russia would be prepared for consultations, but since no consultations on a new UN document on Iraq had begun, it was too early to comment.

The comments from Putin, the final arbiter of Russian policy, suggested that Russia would continue its opposition to a new resolution and could exercise its veto power in the Security Council if such a resolution were introduced.

Sergei Mironov, the chairman of Russia's upper house of parliament, echoed Mr Putin's opposition to a new resolution after meeting yesterday with Christian Poncelet, the president of the parliament of France. - AFP

ABIDJAN - Defence Minister Moise Lida Kouassi yesterday said Ivory Coast was facing "external aggression" and declared the regions around the rebel-held towns of Bouake and Korhogo "war zones". Speaking on state telelvision, he warned that "in a few hours the armed forces will be called upon to do their duty" in the west African nation.

His announcement followed an uprising on September 19 by army mutineers who seized central Bouake and northern Korhogo and battled regular troops in Abidjan, the main city on the coast. The mutiny in Abidjan was quashed at the cost of 270 dead and 300 wounded, by official tally.

"There is no question but that Ivory Coast is facing armed aggression aimed at overthrowing its legal institutions," Mr Kouassi declared.

"All political parties and civil society organisations have declared they have nothing to do with this attempted coup d'etat. "It can therefore only be external aggression. We are seeing a veritable war to occupy our territory. We are declaring, as of this moment, that the Bouake and Korhogo areas are 'war zones', and any armed person found in these zones in the coming hours, apart from friendly forces, will be considered an enemy," he said, adding that the country was acting in "legitimate defence".

The minister added that the authorities had made "discreet" contact with the mutineers to open a dialogue with them. Up until yesterday (Wednesday) they promised to give the number of a satellite telephone. We waited in vain. We are still ready to hold discussions. But we can't wait any longer without reacting," he said, warning that "in a few hours the armed forces will be called upon to do their duty."

In Bouake, a mutineer said that negotiations had started, but that the government had interrupted them by turning off the cellular telephone network in Bouake. - AFP

NAIROBI - Sudanese rebels reported heavy fighting in southern Sudan yesterday, saying the Khartoum government was launching a major military offensive in the area and near some of the country's oilfileds.

Fighting in Sudan's 19-year war between rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the government has escalated since peace talks broke down in early September. The government walked out of the talks when the SPLA captured the strategic southern town of Torit, and says it will only return to negotiations if the rebels sign a ceasefire.

Aid agencies have reported heavy fighting in the south and the SPLA accused the government of launching a major offensive. In a statement issued in Nairobi yesterday, SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje said the government had captured the town of Midil, in Southern Blue Nile.

"SPLA forces that withdrew from Midil are now counter-attacking the enemy and are confident of dislodging them," Mr Kwaje said. "The NIF (government army) is launching a massive military offensive all over New (southern) Sudan."

Battles were also reported in western Upper Nile - where most of Sudan's lucrative oilfields are located - in the town of Leer, and on the bridge of Khor Inglizi, which lies in Equatoria between the government stronghold of Juba and Torit. The SPLA said total casualties were unclear, but reported 40 government and three rebel soldiers killed at Leer, 10 civilians killed in fighting around the oilfields and "heavy casualties" elsewhere.

The Sudanese charge d'affaires in Nairobi, Ahmed Dirdeiry, said the fighting at Khor Inglizi was part of a government offensive to regain Torit. "There is a lot of fighting in southern Sudan, and it has obviously been triggered by the SPLA capture of Torit," he said. "The government had no secrets about its intentions to recapture Torit, and the fighting at Khor Inglizi is part of thegovernment military effort to do that."

The SPLA has been fighting Khartoum since 1983, saying the south wants more autonomy from the north. There are many other political, militia or ethnic groups involved in the war.

In July, the SPLA and Khartoum signed a framework peace deal that would allow southerners to hold a referendum on secession in just over six years time and to separate state and religion in the south. Both the SPLA and the government appeared optimistic that all other issues - such as sharing power and wealth, and defining north-south boundaries - could be resolved during talks in Kenya in September. Analysts are still hopeful that mediators will get the parties back to the negotiating table eventually. - Reuters

CALAIS - The French refugee camp used as a springboard for illegal immigration into Britain will refuse new refugees from mid-November and should shut for good next April as planned, France and Britain said yesterday. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said after he met British counterpart David Blunkett that Paris would fund journeys home for the mostly Afghan and Kurd inhabitants of the Sangatte camp, near the French side of the Channel Tunnel.

Those who refused would have to prove a case for political asylum during interviews conducted with the help of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), or face deportation. "Work begins on this tomorrow," Mr Sarkozy said. "If anyone has any better ideas on how to solve this problem, which has poisoned the lives at all those at the camp and relations between our two countries, please don't hesitate to let us know," he told a news conference.

Mr Blunkett said he was confident that new, tougher British immigration legislation would be in place by mid-November, when France closes entry into the camp. Up to 2,000 refugees live there and many make nightly attempts to sneak into Britain.

"I would not like to be in the shoes of any party that tries and blocks (the legislation)," he said, referring to objections that the new rules could violate human rights. "It is very clear this legislation has to go through."

France has demanded that Britain toughen up its asylum and immigration laws as a precondition for closing Sangatte, which is within walking distance of the Channel Tunnel linking the two countries. The Red Cross-run refugee camp opened in 1999 to house hundreds of immigrants living rough on the streets of nearby Calais while preparing attempts to enter Britain, whose laws on immigration and asylum are seen as relatively liberal.

Sangatte became a magnet for trafficking gangs organising illegal passage to Britain, but a police crackdown on the gangs and tighter security around the tunnel and a nearby freight terminal has reduced successful stowaway bids to a trickle. - Reuters

NEW YORK - Ukraine invited the United Nations yesterday to investigate what it insisted were groundless US charges that Kiev sold a high-tech radar to Iraq in violation of UN sanctions on Baghdad.

Foreign Minister Anatoly Zlenko said he planned to personally invite UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix and key Security Council diplomats during a round of meetings at UN headquarters.

Mr Zlenko broke off a visit to the Dominican Republic to rush to New York and dispute Washington's allegations that Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma had approved the sale to Iraq of a sophisticated 'Kolchuga' system capable of tracking aircraft without giving itself away.

"I would like to inform members of the Security Council that Ukraine is open to having consultations with the council and to proceed with an investigation to assure everybody that Ukraine has adhered very much to the Security Council sanctions and never supplied armament to the mentioned country (Iraq)," he told reporters. He said international experts could come to Ukraine in pursuit of their probe, and encouraged UN arms inspectors to look for the weapon inside Iraq once they returned.

In Washington, a State Department official said the Ukrainian government had contacted the United States offering to let US experts visit the Ukraine and examine the records, but the US initial reaction was sceptical.

"Unfortunately we do not believe that the Government of Ukraine has been candid with us in the past on this issue," the official said. "We are considering the possibility of this type of visit by US experts to Ukraine, but before proceeding, we would want to have confidence that Ukrainian officials are prepared to address this issue in a transparent way ..." he said.

Mr Zlenko was meeting at the United Nations envoys from the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Norway, which chairs the council's Iraq sanctions committee, as well as Mr Blix and Annan, an aide said. Under threat of possible war from Washington, Baghdad this month invited inspectors to return to Iraq for the first time since December 1998, when they were pulled out ahead of US-British bombing raids and not allowed to go back.

Mr Blix has said he hopes to have an initial team of inspectors back in Iraq as soon as mid-October. - Reuters

MOSCOW - A major battle raged in southern Russia on Thursday after Chechen guerrillas downed a Russian military helicopter, killing its two-man crew, Russian news agencies said.

Fierce fighting erupted between a large group of Chechen rebels and security forces around a village in Russia's Ingushetia region -- just across the border from Chechnya -- after a rebel missile brought down the Mi-24 helicopter gunship. The new clash came against a background of angry charges by Russian President Vladimir Putin that its former Soviet ally Georgia is allowing its territory to be used as a launch-pad for rebel cross-border operations into Chechnya. "The helicopter was hit by a shoulder-launched rocket at around 0800 hrs, an unnamed Russian military source in the Transcaucasus region was quoted by Interfax as saying.

The chopper came down on a village, Galashki, and the two-member crew was killed, the source said. Agencies said a major battle erupted as about 150 Chechen rebels tried to seize control of bridges inside Galashki to secure free passage into nearby Chechnya. - Reuters

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