A rchive Date
[ 21-02-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Malaysia ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/02/21/29554-ap.html
Non-Aligned Movement debates strongly worded declaration supporting Iraq
Fri, February 21, 2003
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Strongly worded language proposed by Arab countries to condemn any attack on Iraq forced an abrupt suspension Friday of Non-Aligned Movement meetings so that diplomats leery of the declaration could confer with their governments.
U.S. allies Singapore and Chile, which holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, successfully sought a suspension until Saturday of debate over the resolution rejecting war to disarm Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction. Those delegates said they needed to confer with officials in their capitals, said Qatari delegate Faisal Abdulla Al-Athba.
This meant the group would miss its intended midnight deadline to finalize statements ahead of weekend meetings of foreign ministers, and the two-day summit of leaders starting Monday. The request by Singapore and Chile reflected wider unease among countries outside the Arab region, an African delegate said on condition of anonymity.
"It's not a setback," the delegate told The Associated Press, but he said that he could not confirm whether the delegates could agree on a final declaration by Saturday.
The language in the Arab-proposed declaration was far more supportive of Iraq and more strongly worded than the original version debated earlier. Arab countries inserted two references to "aggression" in the statement and rejected the threat of unilateral use of force "against sovereignty, integrity and political independence of member states of the United Nations."
"We express our support and solidarity with Iraq vis-a-vis the possible aggression against it and committed to exert all possible means to achieve a peaceful solution," it said.
Language urging Iraq to comply with UN Security Council resolution 1441, which demands that Baghdad immediately give up alleged weapons of mass destruction, was substituted in the Arab-proposed declaration with wording that would merely "encourage" Iraq to "continue its compliance and remain actively engaged in the process" to meet "relevant" resolutions.
A paragraph saying that disarmament should lead to a lifting of economic sanctions imposed after the Persian Gulf War was replaced with one calling for an end to sanctions, a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction and singling out Israel as "the only party in the region in possession of weapons of mass destruction."
Senior officials from the mostly developing nations have been hammering out wording on declarations to be issued Tuesday after a two-day summit of leaders that is expected to be dominated by fears that any U.S.-led attempt to use force to disarm Iraq could trigger political and economic instability.
Iraqi delegate Akila Al-Hashimi said her country's delegates have told other countries "the defence of Iraq is now the defence of the civilized world."
"This war is just like a machine, and if it is not stopped with Iraq, the American machine of war will continue rolling over Third World countries," Al-Hashimi told reporters. Al-Hashimi, plenipotentiary minister for foreign affairs, said that a "firm and strong position from the Non-Aligned Movement may stop any American aggression against Iraq."
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja said the threat of an Iraq war was the summit's most pressing issue, and that many participants - most African, Asian, Arab and Latin American countries - agree that "war should be the last resort."
Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno said: 'An aggression against Iraq would be disastrous for humanity. The United States would feel free to commit aggressions against any country."
Six non-permanent members of the UN Security Council - Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Pakistan and Syria - belong to the Non-Aligned Movement. Washington, which claims Baghdad has not eliminated banned weapons of mass destruction, needs their support for a resolution, currently being drafted, that could authorize war against Iraq.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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