Pressure grows on US but allies hedge bets

Muslim and European states kept up pressure on Washington yesterday to avert an attack on Iraq, but United States Vice-President Dick Cheney brushed aside their concerns and hammered home the case for pre-emptive action.

Islamic countries said an attack, which Washington says is justified by President Saddam Hussein's development of weapons of mass destruction and links with terrorism, could unleash fresh turmoil by widening a gulf between Muslims and the West.

European countries put the emphasis on resuming United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq, ordered after the 1991 Gulf War, but in a subtle shift led by Belgium, they reminded Iraq to abide by UN resolutions or risk the consequences.

Some analysts say US allies in Europe, which have long expressed concerns over possible US action, may now be turning to the United Nations to get political cover for eventually falling in behind an American war on Iraq.

French President Jacques Chirac warned strongly against a US go-it-alone attack, but sources close to him said concerns that Baghdad might build weapons of mass destruction meant the UN Security Council might ultimately agree to use force.

Iraq joined the debate yesterday by saying there was no point in allowing UN weapons inspectors back into the country, because an "insane, criminal" US Administration was determined to attack and oust Saddam.

Cheney, speaking to Korean War veterans in San Antonio, Texas, repeated charges from Tuesday that the Iraqi leader posed a "mortal danger" to the US.

"The elected leaders of the country have a responsibility to consider all available options and we are doing so," he said. "We must not simply look away, hope for the best and leave the matter for some future administration to resolve."

Cheney said weapons inspections, interrupted four years ago, could not guarantee Iraqi compliance with UN disarmament resolutions.

But in his second policy speech on the subject of Iraq this week, the Vice-President appeared to reach out to the Administration's critics while still insisting the Administration was committed to regime change in Baghdad.

President George W. Bush would "proceed cautiously and deliberately" in dealing with the Iraqi threat, Cheney told a gathering of Korean War veterans here.

"And I am confident that he will, as he said he would, consult widely with our Congress, with our friends and allies around the world before deciding on a course of action."

A US official said on Thursday that Washington would seek "regime change" whether or not inspections were resumed, which Iraq has anyway said it will not accept.

While Saddam sent ministers to Damascus, Beirut and Beijing seeking support, ordinary Iraqis went about business as usual, seeming to accept whatever comes with fatalistic calm.



Washington says Iraq poses a threat to world stability because it is trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction in violation of UN resolutions imposed after the Gulf War.

Iraq says it has dismantled all such programmes and wants an end to punitive UN sanctions.

It has refused to allow UN weapons inspectors, whom it brands spies, into the country since a US-British bombing campaign in December 1998 after inspectors were evacuated following charges that Saddam had interfered with their work.

Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, a vital US ally in its war on terror, said Washington would not have the broad backing Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forecast if it struck against Baghdad.

"Muslims are feeling that they are on the receiving end everywhere. So there is a feeling of alienation in the Muslim world and ... this will lead to further alienation," Musharraf told BBC Radio.

Muslims around the world believe they are the main casualty of Washington's war on terror amid rising anti-Islamic sentiment and a perceived Western bias against their faith.

Many say issues close to their heart, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and protecting civilians in war, have received short shrift while Washington ploughs ahead with its agenda to rout alleged terrorists across the globe.

Indonesia's biggest mainstream Muslim organisation, the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama, also said it strongly opposed any US attack.

Rumsfeld's assertion that a US strike would win international support has already triggered negative reactions from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two strategically important nations should US President George W. Bush take on Baghdad.

In Europe, where Nato allies have often said they opposed attacking Iraq, Belgium led a subtle shift of tone yesterday, putting the onus on Iraq to prove it was sticking to UN resolutions if it wanted to avert a strike.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said: "Europe will find it very difficult to remain squarely opposed to a preventive strike" if Baghdad refused to abide by the resolutions.

Michel said he hoped foreign ministers of the 15-nation bloc meeting in Denmark over the weekend would discuss Iraq.

In Britain, the Foreign Office said it would consider pressing for a deadline by which Iraq had to comply with the resolutions.

Separately, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the Financial Times that the return of weapons inspectors was only a first step, adding that Britain did not rule out military action.

Chirac said a US attack would be "counter to the French notion of collective security, a notion based on co-operation between states, the respect of law, and the authority of the UN Security Council."

But he added: "If Baghdad continues to refuse the unconditional return of [UN arms] inspectors, it must be up to the Security Council to decide what measures to take."

Sources close to him said possible UN-approved measures "ran the whole gamut".

- REUTERS

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