BRUSSELS,
January 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The E.U. has cautioned
against any U.S.-led military action against Baghdad without securing
a second U.N. resolution to authorize war if Iraq refused to disarm
peacefully.
E.U.
foreign policy chief Javier Solana called for more time to be given to
U.N. weapons inspectors on the ground, BBC News Online reported
Tuesday, January 14.
E.U.
members were coming to a common position to allow inspectors to
complete their work as well as on how to proceed if the process
failed, BBC quoted Solana as saying.
"If
(U.N. chief arms inspector Hans) Blix says he needs more time then he
should get more time.
"I
don't think 27 January is the end. It is an important date but Blix
has another date in March," Solana said.
"A
second U.N. resolution may be necessary, I am for that."
Supporting
Solana’s stance, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Tuesday
called for the first time for a second U.N. resolution before any
military action is launched against Iraq, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
He
said Germany, which joined the U.N. Security Council earlier this
month, and its partners in the 15-nation European body would likely
work together to try to have a second vote called.
"I
think that is sensible," he told a press conference in Berlin.
At
the same time, he said Germany would make its opposition to any war
and its refusal to participate in military action "unmistakably
clear" in the U.N. Security Council.
"We
are ready [to give] solidarity. But this country under my leadership
is not available for adventure" the Guardian quoted Schroeder as
telling the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
"We
didn't shy away from offering international solidarity in the fight
against international terrorism.
"We
did it because we were, and are, convinced that it is necessary;
because we knew that the security of our partners is also our
security.
"But
we say this with equal self-confidence: we're not available for
adventures, and the time of check book diplomacy is over once and for
all."
Schroeder
said E.U. members wanted to see if it was going to be possible to draw
up a common position on Iraq, although he expressed doubt that Britain
would sign up to Germany's stance.
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Schroeder
said Germany would make its opposition to war "unmistakably
clear" in the U.N. Security Council
|
However,
he said he wanted Iraq to comply "fully" with U.N.
resolution 1441, which is aimed at identifying its alleged program of
weapons of mass destruction, and so avoid a conflict.
The
chancellor's anti-war stance is popular domestically. It helped his
ruling coalition narrowly win re-election last year.
But
his refusal to say how Germany would vote on any war resolution has
worried left-wing members of his government.
They
fear he may be softening his position, having already agreed that U.S.
and NATO forces would be allowed to use German bases and airspace in
the event of a war, and that German soldiers would help crew AWACS
surveillance planes over Turkey, Guardian said.
Blix
had expressed concern that his work might be interrupted by war, with
thousands of U.S. and British troops deploying in the Gulf.
Blix
said that a crucial report to the council on January 27 would mark
"the beginning of the inspection and monitoring process, not the
end of it."
In
a BBC interview, Blix added he would present to the U.N. Security
Council a set of key remaining disarmament tasks by the end of March.
But
there was "a certain momentum in the (military) build-up and that
worries a great many people including myself," he added.
Blix
added that inspectors were spreading their net after receiving fresh
Western intelligence - but needed more concrete information on the
location of suspect sites.
The
head of the UNMOVIC team, Dimitris Perrikos, said the new sites would
also test the Iraqi co-operation.
"It's
true the Iraqis are opening doors, but they are opening installations
they know we are aware of.
"The
real test will be when we start going to facilities where they will be
surprised," Perrikos told the Greek daily Ta Nea on Monday,
January 13.
The
inspections could take "in the vicinity of a year" and it is
worth to wait to get a sustainable and long-term peaceful solution,
Blix told CNN.
International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed El-Baradei said
Monday the inspectors needed "a few months".
The
IAEA chief said he could not set a specific date for the conclusion of
inspections, and tried to minimize the January 27 meeting.
"I
would like to make it clear in advance that our work will continue
after that date," El-Baradei said.
"I
think now that the international community now understands that this
process is going to take some time."
But
U.S. President Gorge Bush, who previously said it was important that
the inspectors had time to do their jobs, had said that the January 27
report would be the start of "the final phase" leading to a
U.S. decision on whether to use military might to force Iraq to
disarm.
Citing
unnamed sources, ABC News said the Bush administration was preparing
to take its case for war to the United Nations soon after January 27,
no matter what U.N. weapons inspectors say in their report.
