- A war on Iraq could lead to takeover by anti-Western
fundamentalists, the former head of UN weapons inspectors in the country
has warned.
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- In a speech at Westminster, Scott Ritter warned that
the US and UK should not assume that the Iraqi people would accept the
imposition of a pro-Western government in their country.
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- And he questioned claims by Prime Minister Tony Blair
and US President George Bush that Saddam has developed an arsenal of weapons
of mass destruction capable of threatening the West.
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- The former US marine, who resigned as head of the UNSCOM
inspectors in 1998, told an audience which included several MPs that his
team believed they had destroyed virtually all Iraq's WMD capability by
the time they pulled out.
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- It would be impossible for Saddam to have secretly rebuilt
a chemical, biological or nuclear armoury since then with the limited technology
available to him under the current sanctions regime, he said.
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- "The British people should demand accountability
from the Blair Government and demand proof," Mr Ritter said. "When
you hear your Prime Minister and our President speak of a dossier, you
must demand `Where is this dossier?"'
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- Expectations that Iraqi resistance would crumble might
prove unfounded, he suggested. Iraqi troops would be fighting for their
homeland and the invasion could be expected to mount tough resistance in
the cities and towns.
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- And he warned that: "If the US makes a move on Iraq,
eliminates Saddam and Iraq goes fundamentalist, there is a very good chance
that a domino effect will come into play.
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- "We could see Saudi Arabia fall, Kuwait fall, Jordan
fall, Egypt fall and the entire region being swept up in a sea of anti-Western,
Islamic fundamentalism."
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- An invasion of Iraq would swing vast numbers of ordinary
Arabs behind the aims of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network, he
predicted.
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- "Osama bin Laden will have won," he said. "If
you want to lose the war on terror, invade Iraq."
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- © Associated Newspapers Ltd.
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- http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/top_story.html
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