- PARIS (AFP) - World leaders
have stiffened their opposition to any US unilateral attack on Iraq, prompting
Washington to pledge that it will consult its global allies before launching
any military strike.
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- Across the globe, from Asia to Europe, Washington's friends
and foes alike have raised a chorus of concern that US President George
W. Bush will seek to go it alone against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
accused of developing weapons of mass destruction.
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- The issue of Iraq was set to overshadow Friday's start
of two days of informal talks by EU foreign ministers in Denmark with many
EU governments having already echoed the same reservations about any US
action as Arab and Asian leaders.
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- French President Jacques Chirac added his voice to the
growing chorus late Thursday. Although he did not rule out the possibility
of using force against Saddam, accused of developing weapons of mass destruction,
he said it should be a joint decision by the United Nations.
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- "If Baghdad insists on refusing to allow the unconditional
return of inspectors, it would be up to the Security Council alone to decide
what measures to take," he told French ambassadors.
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- Baghdad crowed with delight that Chirac had added his
weight to mounting European anxiety, after Britain also signalled a shift
in its position by saying it could consider setting Iraq a deadline to
resume UN arms inspections.
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- "US decision-makers can no longer count on Europe
in the 21st century. Having realised it was tricked by America in attacks
in different parts of the world, (Europe) is starting to distance itself
from US visions and goals," said Ath-Thawra, mouthpiece of the ruling
Baath party in Baghdad.
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- "The US administration is hammering the last nail
in its coffin, and it seems that this administration now realises that
even its allies have deserted it and that it could not finance its war,"
added the official Al-Iraq.
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- The vocal concern even among Washington's traditional
allies prompted the Bush administration to pledge to hold consultations
before taking any military decisions.
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- "I am confident that he (Bush) will, as he said
he would, consult widely with our Congress, with our friends and allies
around the world before deciding on a course of action," Vice President
Dick Cheney said Thursday.
-
- But the vice president -- widely reported to be a hawk
on Iraq -- again underscored the threat posed by Saddam's regime.
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- With weapons of mass destruction, and 10 percent of the
world's oil reserves, Saddam could "be expected to seek domination
of the entire Middle East ... and subject the United States or any other
nation to nuclear blackmail," Cheney said.
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- Bush made the same point at a political fundraiser in
Oklahoma, saying he was determined to move against Iraq, but would not
move hastily.
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- "We must not allow the world's worst leaders to
develop and harbor the world's worst weapons," he said. "I've
got a lot of tools at my disposal and I'm a patient man."
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- Washington is also seeking to galvanise the fractured
Iraqi opposition to help prepare it for a post-Saddam government.
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- Next week Washington will convene a meeting in London
of Iraqi opposition scholars and intellectuals to discuss "democratic
principles", the State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday.
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- The meeting, on September 4 and 5, is one in a series
of seminars Washington is sponsoring to further its goal of regime change.
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