US Presses UN for Quick Action; Russia, France, Germany Call for Iraq's Full Cooperation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 08, 2003

US Presses UN for Quick Action; Russia, France, Germany Call for Iraq's Full Cooperation

The United States on Friday again pressed the United Nations for quick decision on Iraq, while Russia, France and Germany reiterated the importance of peaceful solution to the crisis and called for more active cooperation from Iraq.

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Bush Presses UN for quick decision on Iraq

US President George W. Bush said on Friday that the UN Security Council should "make up its mind soon" on whether to uphold its resolution to disarm Iraq, or the United States will lead a coalition to do it.

"The UN Security Council has got to make up its mind soon," Bush told reporters in Washington before a ceremony to swear in new Treasury Secretary John Snow.

"I'm confident that when the members assess their responsibilities and the responsibilities of the UN, they will understand that (Resolution) 1441 must be upheld in the fullest," he said

"This is a defining moment for the UN Security Council. If the Security Council were to allow a dictator to lie and deceive, the Security Council will be weakened," Bush added.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday that the diplomatic efforts to avoid a war on Iraq had failed, adding that he did not expect a possible war with Iraq to last long.

Rumsfeld made the remarks while he addressed US troops at an air base near the northern Italian town of Aviano.

A possible conflict "could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months," he said. "It is highly unlikely that we would go to a full mobilization."

Russia calls for Iraq's full cooperation

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Friday called upon Iraq to actively cooperate with UN weapons inspectors in a bid to avert military strikes by the United States.

"Iraq must not only admit the inspectors to facilities and allow them to carry out relevant examinations, but also submit materials confirming that the weapons that they possessed have already been destroyed so that this cooperation will be not passive, but active," he said.

Ivanov was speaking at a press conference after a two-hour closed hearing at Russia's State Duma (lower house of parliament).

He warned that a unilateral military campaign against Iraq, if it occurs, "will strike a blow to international institutions and the UN's authority, and, naturally, it will split the anti-terror coalition."

"The price is very high, and that is why Russia is working so actively for a political resolution" of the Iraq issue, he said.

"An overwhelming majority of countries share this very positionand believe that it is necessary to search for a political resolution based on existing UN Security Council resolutions," he said.

This was the second time Ivanov commented on Iraq issue in the same day. Earlier on Friday, he said that there is no need for a new UN resolution that would authorize the use of force against Iraq, reiterating Russia's stance that the crisis can be resolved by political means.

France, Germany adhere to political solution

French President Jacques Chirac stressed on Friday that France's position on the Iraqi crisis remained unchanged despite the evidence presented by US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the UN Security Council earlier this week, adding that an alternative to war in Iraq still exists.

"There still exists an alternative to war. It is the responsibility of each of the members of the (UN) Security Councilto explore it to the end," Chirac said after meeting with visiting Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen in Paris.

He urged Iraq to actively cooperate with the UN weapons inspectors to ensure the effectiveness of the inspections.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin echoed Chirac's comments, saying France believed that war was the last solution to the Iraqi crisis.

The minister said Powell failed to provide any "inescapable evidence" to prove that Iraq had defied its disarmament commitments.

However, De Villepin also warned that France never ruled out the use of force if authorized by the UN.

The German government on Friday also dismissed President Bush's call for a second UN resolution on Iraq, saying a new resolution was "not necessary for the moment" and that UN arms inspectors must be allowed to continue their work in Iraq.

A government spokesman told a regular government conference in Berlin that Germany did not think a fresh vote was needed.

UN Urges Iraq's "drastic change"

Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei Friday urged a "drastic change" in Iraq's cooperation with inspections as a US-led war on Iraq loomed larger.

Speaking to reporters in Cyprus before heading for Iraq, ElBaradei said he and his fellow Hans Blix wanted to see a "drastic change" in Baghdad's cooperation.

"We expect to see drastic change with regard to particular areas, the areas of surveillance flights, and the question of private interviews, these are the areas where it is important to move on," ElBaradei said.

However, he said there was still a chance to solve the Iraqi crisis through the inspections.

"We still believe that inspections are the alternative to war, and not a prelude," he said, while welcoming the first private interview held between UN experts and an Iraqi scientist Thursday.

On Friday, UN arms inspectors had private interviews with threeIraqi scientists.

Blix, who heads the United Nations Monitoring, Verification andInspection Commission (UNMOVIC), also arrived in Cyprus later Friday en route to Iraq.

The two chief arms inspectors will return to Baghdad on Saturday for fresh talks on Iraq's disarmament, and are expected to deliver their updated reports to the UN Security Council on Feb.14, a day analysts term as a crucial moment for peace or war.

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