Blair: U.N. must finish Iraq disarmament

 

By Jill Lawless

Feb 3, 2003 | LONDON (AP) -- The United Nations must complete the disarmament of Iraq or become impotent, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday.

Blair told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the U.N. Security Council should pass a second resolution declaring Iraq in breach of its obligation to disarm and authorizing military action.

"A signal of weakness over Iraq is not only wrong in its own terms," Blair said. "Show weakness now and no one will ever believe us when we try to show strength in the future."

Speaking after last week's meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington, Blair said Iraq was already in "material breach" of its obligation to disarm, but that a second U.N. vote should come before military action.

"The situation could not be clearer," Blair said. "There is a duty on Saddam to cooperate fully. At present he is not cooperating fully. Failure to do so is a material breach of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1441"

He said Iraq had set up a "huge infrastructure of deception and concealment" to block weapons inspections, and that if inspectors continue to report a lack of cooperation, "a second resolution should be passed confirming such a material breach."

Last November, the 15-member U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on Saddam to give up nuclear, biological or chemical arms or face "serious consequences." Iraq says it has no such weapons.

Blair has firmly backed the tough U.S. line on Iraq, but is seen to be keener than Bush on having war sanctioned by the U.N. The United States has said it is prepared to act without the approval of the U.N. if necessary. Blair has said Britain would only do so only if a Security Council member blocked a new resolution unreasonably or unilaterally.

Blair told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Saturday that the president "has said that he welcomed the prospect of a second resolution."

"What he is anxious to ensure, and what I am anxious to ensure, is that the whole debate about a second resolution doesn't just become a means of putting this thing off for months and months and months," Blair continued. On Monday, Blair told lawmakers that Saddam's time was running out.

"Eight weeks have now passed since Saddam was given his final chance; 600 weeks have passed since he was given his first chance," he said. "The evidence of cooperation withheld is unmistakable."

Blair has backed up his support for the United States with British troops. Britain has said it is sending 35,000 troops -- including a quarter of its army and its biggest navy task force in 20 years -- to the Gulf region.

The Ministry of Defense said Monday that Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon would announce an air force deployment to the region in the "near future."

The Ministry wouldn't give a date for the announcement or details of the package. But British media speculated Hoon would announce this week that he would quadruple Britain's air power in the region.

The Royal Air Force has 20 attack aircraft stationed near Iraq to patrol no-fly zones over the north and south of the country.

A further 14 fighter jets flew to Iraq's neighbor Jordan last month for a long-planned military exercise with the Jordanian air force. They have since left the region, the Ministry of Defense said.

The Times newspaper speculated last week that Hoon would send at least 60 aircraft to the Gulf and Turkey. It reported this would include between eight and 12 Tornado GR4 aircraft equipped with Paveway bombs, which are guided by the satellite-linked Global Positioning System.

The Times said the deployment would boost the presence of RAF personnel in the Gulf region from 1,130 to around 3,000.

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