13 November 1998
WORLD LEADERS SUPPORT FIRM U.S. STAND ON IRAQ
(European, Arab states voice frustration with Saddam Hussein) (890) Washington -- Leaders in Europe, the Arab world, and elsewhere have supported the firm U.S. stand on Iraq and voiced frustration over Iraq's decision to cease cooperation with UN weapons inspectors. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said November 13 that the clock is ticking for Saddam Hussein to let UN arms inspectors back into Iraq. "If we have to, we are ready to use military action. We would much regret this, but our objectives will be clear -- to force him back into compliance with the UN," he wrote in an article in the mass circulation Mirror tabloid. Blair said Saddam Hussein "must give up, as he has repeatedly promised to, both his remaining stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and his capacity to re-arm himself with them." British Defence Secretary George Robertson warned, in a BBC radio interview, that Saddam Hussein "underestimates our determination and resolve if he thinks he has any more than a short period of time to listen to the United Nations Security Council, to the secretary general, to his previous allies within the world community, to the united voice of the Arab world." "It is still possible at this eleventh hour for Saddam to remove the need for force by complying with the UN resolution," said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. "If he does not, it will be Saddam who bears the responsibility for what happens next." The Spanish Foreign Ministry, in a November 13 statement, said Iraq "must comply with its international obligations...and resume its collaboration with (UN weapons inspectors) immediately and unconditionally....In this situation Spain, as in the past, would act in accordance with its responsibilities to the international community and in solidarity with its allies." A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said November 12 that "all options are open" at the UN Security Council to deal with Iraq's noncompliance. Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema and his cabinet, in a November 13 statement, said the Italian government "is following the deterioration of the Iraqi crisis closely and with concern....There is a risk of reaching a point of no return which could result in the use of military force, which no one wants." German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said November 12 he is "deeply concerned that Iraq, despite urgent warnings from the international community, has so far not resumed cooperating with the UN weapons inspectors." He added: "I most strongly urge the Iraqi leadership to fulfill comprehensively the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Only on this basis is a political solution of the conflict between Iraq and the international community possible." In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin told reporters November 13 that Iraq's decision to end cooperation with UN arms inspectors "has dealt a serious blow to the process of stabilizing the situation." "Now the process is developing in a way that if a political solution is not urgently found, the threat of use of force can become real," Yakushkin said. Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai told Israeli television November 13 that Israel "needs to remain outside the conflict," but it must be prepared for any eventuality. "Saddam Hussein is unpredictable," he said. "In extreme situations it's possible that he could use the means that he has and we're prepared for any outcome." The Xinhua news agency said November 13 that Chinese President Jiang Zemin had expressed China's "deep concern" and called on Iraq "to restore its cooperation with the United Nations immediately by implementing the Security Council resolutions." In Washington Japan's Ambassador to the United States Kunihiko Saito said at a November 13 news conference that his country understands the position of the U.S. government "that all options should be left open, and we believe that it is the...sole responsibility of the Iraqi government to comply with the United Nations resolutions, with agreement with (UN) Secretary General (Kofi) Annan to resolve the current crisis." He also noted that "in the past Japan has always stood solidly behind the United States when the United States played a key role in efforts to solve problems, crises, created by Iraq." Eight Arab foreign ministers -- members of the Damascus Declaration Group -- in a final communique following their November 11-12 meeting in Doha, Qatar, urged Iraq to comply with UN resolutions, adding that failure to do so would "expose innocent Iraqis to more disasters and tragedies." The communique said that the ministers "called on Iraq to turn away from its decision to stop cooperating with the (UN) Special Commission, and they called for full, transparent cooperation in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Iraqi government and the UN Secretary General, signed in February 1998. "The ministers affirmed that the Iraqi government bears the responsibility for any breakdowns (that might occur) as a result of its failure to turn away from that decision. They indicated that Iraq's failure to do this would expose innocent Iraqis to more disasters and tragedies. In this regard the ministers expressed the hope that reason and wisdom prevail so that the United Nations can find a diplomatic solution to this crisis." The ministers represented Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.
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