Iraqi Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz said in a broadcast interview Saturday that Bagdhad would not use chemical weapons against the United States unless Washington used nuclear weapons first.
Asked by CBS News anchor Dan Rather during the 90-minute interview in Baghdad about fears that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would use poison gas, Aziz said: "If Iraq is attacked by nuclear weapons we will retaliate by chemical weapons."Rather asked if a nuclear attack on Iraq were the only circumstances under which it would retaliate with chemical weapons, and Aziz replied: "Yes."
With a growing buildup of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia in the wake of Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait, Baghdad warned Friday that if attacked, it would use weapons of "mass destruction and strategic deterrence" to hit back.
Sections of the interview broadcast Saturday did not contain Aziz's remarks about poison gas, but they were broadcast by CBS Saturday evening.
Aziz added that there were bitter feelings in the Middle East against the United States for the "double standard" in its foreign policy in the region.
Specifically, he pointed to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and "Israeli atrocities against Arabs," which he said were ignored.