A rchive Date
[ 18-12-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Britain ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2002/12/18/7682-ap.html
Britain: Iraq's denial an 'obvious falsehood'
By ED JOHNSON
Wed, December 18, 2002
LONDON (AP) - Leading the charge for the United States, Britain on Wednesday scorned Saddam Hussein's declaration that he has no weapons of mass destruction and said it was making contingency plans for war.
"This will fool nobody," Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said of the Iraqi leader's 12,000-page dossier, maintaining it fell short of the United Nations' demands - a sentiment that was echoed by the White House. "If Saddam persists in this obvious falsehood, it will become clear that he has rejected the pathway to peace laid down in Resolution 1441," which requires Iraq make a full disclosure of its weapons programs.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said President George W. Bush found "omissions" and "problems" in Iraq's arms declaration.
"The United States will continue to push the very deliberate approach in dealing with the issue and the potential consequences," Fleischer said.
Both countries stopped short of declaring that Iraq was in "material breach" of the resolution, considered the trigger point for military action.
At UN headquarters in New York, where the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council received an edited version of the declaration Tuesday night, diplomats reacted cautiously to Straw's comments.
"We hope that this is not going to be a trigger," said Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius. "This is precisely why we have inspectors."
Chinese Ambassador Wang Yingfan said he would wait for the inspectors' verdict. Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, are scheduled to give the Security Council their preliminary assessment of the Iraqi declaration Thursday.
UN officials said Wednesday that ElBaradei will tell the Security Council more inspections are needed to verify Saddam's claims that he has no weapons of mass destruction.
Straw said Saddam had made "obvious omissions," such as failing to account for weapons of mass destruction listed in a 1998 report by weapons inspectors. Those inspectors, the last allowed into Iraq before Blix and his team returned last month, had accused Saddam of possessing nerve agents and other "chemical precursors" and munitions, he said.
Straw said Britain had not completed a full analysis of the declaration and would give its formal response after the Christmas holiday.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been the strongest international supporter of Bush's tough line on Iraq, told legislators officials would continue to study the document, but added: "I think most people who have looked at this obviously very long document are very skeptical about the claims that it makes."
Military chiefs said although their primary goal was disarming Saddam of his chemical, biological and nuclear weapons peacefully, they were preparing troops for possible military action.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said Britain was making "contingency provisions" for possible war with Iraq. He said Britain needed to "continue to pose a credible threat of force," but stressed war was not inevitable.
"What we are doing is ensuring that we have a range of military options available should they be required. This process does not lead inexorably to military action," he said.
"As long as Saddam Hussein's compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1441 is in doubt, the threat of force must remain and must be real," Hoon said.
Preparations included upgrading field hospitals and improving battlefield ambulances. Hoon said the government was also preparing to charter ships for moving equipment and personnel.
He said six Royal Navy vessels, including warships and a nuclear submarine, were going on a routine deployment to the Persian Gulf in the new year. More ships might be sent to ensure "the readiness of a broad range of maritime capabilities," Hoon said.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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