- China and Russia have added their weight to the growing
opposition within the United Nations to fighting a war against Iraq.
-
-
- Both Germany and France yesterday made it clear that
they would not support a new UN resolution authorising military action
against Saddam Hussein's regime.
-
- President Jacques Chirac of France told the United States
and Britain not to take unilateral action, saying that "war is always
an admission of failure".
-
- His comments have been supported by China which said
that its position was "extremely close" to that of France.
-
- Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, also spelled
out his opposition to war, saying that there were "no grounds at the
moment to use military force against Iraq".
-
- Mr Ivanov, who was attending a meeting with European
Union ministers, added: "There is still political and diplomatic leeway
to resolve the Iraq issue."
-
- However, the Kremlin has back-tracked on Mr Ivanov's
comments, saying that it would wait until after the UN weapons inspectors
report back to the Security Council on Jan 27 before making any decision
over whether to back military attack.
-
- The anti-war voices of France, China and Russia - all
of which can veto UN Security Council resolutions - will not be welcomed
in Washington and London.
-
- Yesterday President George W Bush warned wavering countries
that they would be "held to account" if they did not support
his hardline stance against Iraq.
-
- And the White House has again underlined that it is prepared
to ignore European voices of dissent, saying it was France and Germany's
"prerogative, if they choose, to be on the sideline".
-
- Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, also claimed
that any US-led military action would be mulitilateral because it would
be supported by Britain, Spain, Italy and Australia.
-
- Russia and China's voiced their doubts over the war as
ministers from Iraq's neighbours - Iran, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and
Syria - held talks in Istanbul along with Egyptian officials.
-
- Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are under pressure from
the US and Britain to let their military bases be used by allied troops
and both are keen to avoid what will be an unpopular conflict within their
countries.
-
- However, it is thought that the summit will merely ask
Iraq to comply with UN resolutions and will not ask Saddam to step down
in order to avoid war.
-
- Meanwhile, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, has arrived
in Washington to hold talks with Colin Powell, the US secretary of state,
and Dick Cheney, the US vice president.
-
- It is Mr Straw's second trip to the US this week and
it is thought that he will try to persuade Mr Powell and Mr Cheney to give
the UN inspectors more time to disarm Iraq.
-
- Next week the diplomatic focus will return to the UN
and Britain has been keen to play down the significance of the weapons
inspectors report to the Security Council.
-
- However, Mr Bush's comments over recent days signal that
Washington's patience with Saddam has run out, leaving Mr Straw with an
uphill task in his efforts to persuade the US not to go to war alone.
-
-
-
-
- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
|
