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British vote backs U.N. on Iraq
LONDON, England -- Parliament declared its support for the United Nations resolution demanding Iraq give up its weapons of mass destruction on Monday. After five hours debate in the House of Commons, a motion by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government in favour of U.N. Resolution 1441 was approved without a vote. Meanwhile, more than 300 lawmakers and groups from around the world signed a letter urging U.S. President George W. Bush to avoid war. Their letter, sent to Bush, Blair and the leaders of Russia, France, Germany, Canada and Australia on Monday, came as the first United Nations weapons inspectors arrived in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. (Full story) As the inspectors prepared to start their mission to search for alleged weapons of mass destruction, Iraq made a lengthy complaint to the U.N. that Washington was simply looking for an excuse to go to war. Blair warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Monday not to play a game of "hide and seek" with the inspectors. "We have no doubt that he does have weapons of mass destruction," Blair told a news conference. "So let's wait and see what he actually says. But I've made it clear throughout, this has got to be a situation in which there is an honest declaration by Saddam." Blair said a false declaration about weapons programmes would constitute a "material breach" of Resolution 1441 but that it was up to the weapons inspectors to pass judgment. The resolution obliges Baghdad to allow the inspectors unfettered access to every corner of the country. "We have the inspectors in there and the inspectors are the people who will declare what the position is," he said.
"It's not a game of hide-and-seek. It's not a game where the inspectors go in and see if they can find the stuff and he sees if he can conceal it," Blair told the news conference. The debate in the British parliament took place as an opinion poll was released showing rising public support for war against Iraq. Military action was still opposed by 40 percent of Britons, but is backed by 39 percent -- seven percent higher than it was three weeks ago, the ICM/Guardian poll found.
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