Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/3/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / WORLD REACT (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-294819

BYLINE=MICHAEL DRUDGE

DATELINE=LONDON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Britain is warning that Iraq will face military attack if it does not agree to a United Nations disarmament plan. But Russia, China and France continue to express reservations about the use of force. V-O-A's Michael Drudge in London has a roundup of the latest world reaction to the Iraq crisis.

TEXT: British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a news conference Thursday, the international community must give Iraqi President Saddam Hussein a message that is clear and not ambiguous -- that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction will be eliminated, one way or another.

/// BLAIR ACT ///

Now, if it can be done by a tough new weapons inspection regime, we'll do it that way. But if it can't be done that way, we have to do it the other way, by force, if necessary. Now it's as simple as that.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Blair said if Saddam Hussein agrees to give up chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, he can keep his tanks, artillery and other conventional weapons.

The prime minister also said U-N weapons inspectors will have to have access to Saddam Hussein's palaces without giving prior notice. A deal struck this week between Iraq and U-N officials excludes eight presidential complexes from surprise inspections.

Three countries with veto power on the U-N Security Council -- Russia, China, and France -- continue to take a less belligerent stance than Britain and the United States.

In Moscow, the Russian deputy foreign minister, Alexander Saltanov, said Thursday his country is not satisfied with a draft of a tough new U-N resolution, proposed by the United States and Britain, because it contains a threat of military action.

He says Russia could suffer what he termed "undesirable" consequences, if Iraq is attacked. Russia has close economic ties with Iraq.

China also is expressing reservations about military force. The Chinese foreign ministry said Thursday, the main objective at the moment should be the return of U-N weapons inspectors to Iraq as soon as possible.

And in Paris, French President Jacques Chirac has reaffirmed his opposition to any U-N resolution that would automatically approve military intervention, if Iraq interferes with weapons inspections. (Signed).

NEB/MWD/KL/TW