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Iraq Accepts Inspectors, U.N. Mulls Next Move Mon Sep 16,10:44 PM ET By Alistair Lyon UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, under intense world diplomatic pressure backed by the threat of U.S. military action, agreed on Monday to readmit United Nations weapons inspectors without conditions. But the White House reacted skeptically to the Iraqi move, calling it an evasive tactic that would fail while Russia said Iraq's decision would deflect military action. 'I have received a letter from the Iraqi authorities conveying their decision to allow the return of the inspectors without conditions,' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. The inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq in December 1998 just before a U.S.-British bombing blitz designed to punish Baghdad for its alleged failure to cooperate with them. White House spokesman Scott McClellan dismissed the offer. 'This is a tactical step by Iraq in hopes of avoiding strong U.N. Security Council action. As such, it is a tactic that will fail,' he said in a written statement. McClellan said a 'new, effective U.N. Security Council resolution that will actually deal with the threat Saddam Hussein poses' was still needed. The 15-member council will hold consultations on Tuesday. A senior State Department official said the council had to spell out 'what inspections without conditions mean, what compliance means and what Iraq has to do.' President Bush has vowed to seek 'regime change' in Iraq and U.S. officials have refused to rule out military action regardless of whether the inspections resume. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri handed the letter to Annan at a meeting also attended by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. 'We reached satisfactory results and there is good news,' Sabri told reporters after handing over the letter. The Iraqi letter from Sabri said Baghdad had based its decision 'on its desire to complete the implementation of the relevant
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