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Blair speech leaves Asia unmoved
Staff and wires
HONG KONG, China -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair's detailed dossier on Iraq's weapons program and claims it poses an immediate world threat have so far failed to convince the international community of the need to invade Iraq. The U.S. and Britain have stepped up pressure on the U.N. Security Council to adopt a tough new Iraq resolution before any resumption of U.N. weapons inspections to search for weapons of mass destruction. Russia says it sees no need for a new U.N. resolution and France has made no secret of the fact it does not believe military action against Iraq is warranted. Their stance has placed China's in the international spotlight, it being a permanent security council member with veto power along with United States, Britain, France and Russia. Early indications from Beijing suggest the United States and Britain may secure at least limited support for a military offensive. China has made its most positive statement yet on the new Iraq resolution being crafted by the United States and Britain that paves the way for an attack should Iraq fail to honour all past U.N. demands. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was facing his "last chance" to avoid giving the United States a legal basis for action against him, China's official English-language China Daily said on Wednesday.
The newspaper, in a strongly worded editorial aimed directly at Saddam, said he must fulfil a promise to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors fully or risk losing support against a U.S. invasion. "This is the last chance for Saddam Hussein to deprive the Americans of a legal case against himself," the paper said. "An Iraqi failure to satisfy the inspectors' requests might give Bush the excuse he craves to forcefully carry out his coveted 'regime change' in Iraq," it said. The Foreign Ministry said China would consider a possible resolution by the United States and Britain to use force if Iraq did not meet demands for weapons inspections. China has welcomed Iraq's decision to allow the unconditional return of inspectors but is still expected to abstain from any council vote on the use of force. Regional reluctanceMalaysia's Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir typified the view of many Asian Muslim nations in urging restraint on the part of the West and the full participation of the United Nations in controlling any action against Iraq. Mahathir said sanctions must be lifted now that Saddam had agreed to readmit UN weapons inspectors. "Britain and America should listen to the rest of the world," he told a news conference. The former leader of neighboring Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, said a U.S.-led war against Iraq looked likely, but warned the such a campaign would "complicate" ties between Washington and Muslim countries. "Few doubt the U.S. will act to remove [Saddam] unless he hands over weapons of mass destruction," Lee said in a speech. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Wednesday he thought the Blair dossier was a "strong document" that argued a "very compelling case". Speaking in London after a meeting with the British leader, Howard said the document supported the line the Australian government was taking on Iraq. "It's fair to say that our views are very similar," Howard said. Howard said that while Australia did not want a war with Iraq, the issue of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction had to be addressed. "It won't go away. If we hide ourselves in a corner it won't be gone the next morning and people who pretend that it will are deluding themselves," Howard told reporters. Afghanistan fears neglectAcross the Tasman Sea, the Blair speech seemed to have gone some way towards hardening the New Zealand leadership stance against Saddam's regime. Prime Minister Helen Clark, a vocal opponent of military action in recent months, said Blair's dossier on Iraq put forward a strong case for disarming the country. She said it was clear from his speech that he believed Britain should follow a multilateral approach to disarming Iraq and that he was not saying military force should be used immediately.
"He does not set out to persuade the Commons (parliament) that the British should be invading," Clark said. "The dossier is useful in that it brings together much information, and reinforces our view that unconditional access by weapons inspectors is required," she said. "Getting the inspectors in is step one. Destroying what they find is step two." In Afghanistan, where U.S. and British forces recently drove the Taliban out of power, some officials in the new government have voiced concern that efforts to rebuild the impoverished country could be neglected if the Bush administration decides to launch a military attack against Iraq. That prompted U.S. Treasury Undersecretary John Taylor to say during a visit to Kabul on Tuesday that Washington will not abandon its commitment to help rebuild Afghanistan, even if it is forced to commit military and humanitarian resources for a possible war in Iraq. Reuters contributed to this report.
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