PRAGUE/BAGHDAD, 21 November 2002 — US President George W. Bush said yesterday he would call on NATO allies to help him disarm Saddam Hussein should the Iraqi leader refuse to give up the deadly arsenal Washington believes he has concealed. The White House said the United States has begun sounding out some 50 countries on what they could contribute to a possible war against Iraq should Baghdad not disarm.
US diplomats in at least 50 and as many as 52 countries have been instructed to ask their host governments about the extent and type of assistance they might be able to provide if Iraq does not comply with a new UN Security Council resolution demanding disarmament, a US State Department official said.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Czech President Vaclav Havel in Prague, Bush said NATO members would consider the consequences for Iraq of any failure to comply with a new UN disarmament resolution at a summit in Prague today. "If the decision is made to use military force we will consult with our friends and we hope that our friends will join us," Bush said.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the consultation process: "It’s widespread, it’s many nations." Britain said it had been asked, and Fleischer said France had also been contacted. Mindful of anxieties among European allies over US policy, Bush said he hoped Iraq would cooperate with UN weapons inspectors, who this week returned to Baghdad after a four-year absence, and that the country would disarm voluntarily. War would be the last option, Bush said. "I hope we can do this peacefully."
NATO’s two-day summit is dedicated formally to inviting seven Eastern European states to join the 19-member alliance in 2004. But discussions will be dominated by Iraq and how NATO can remold itself to face new security threats after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
Iraq yesterday vowed to meet its first big test under a UN resolution by providing a complete account of its arms program. Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said yesterday that Baghdad had pledged full cooperation. Blix arrived in Cyprus later in the day after a two-day trip to Baghdad where an advance team of inspectors is paving the way for a resumed hunt for banned weapons.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 requires Baghdad to grant inspectors unfettered access to suspect sites or face a possible US-led attack to force disarmament. "We had good discussions with representatives of the Iraqi government and (they) assured us they will fully implement the resolution and cooperate with us, so it was a constructive visit," Blix told reporters in Larnaca.
Mohamed El-Baradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who accompanied Blix said: "They made it very clear they will do everything possible to cooperate." Iraqi newspapers said yesterday the inspectors would soon verify that Iraq had no such weapons and the United Nations should lift sanctions imposed after the 1991 Gulf War. (The Independent)
