LONDON,
March 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - British Prime Minister
Tony Blair faced a mounting crisis over his policy on Iraq Monday, March
10, after a leading cabinet minister threatened to resign if the
government followed the United States into a war without UN
authorization.
The
warning from International Development Secretary Claire Short came only
hours after a member of parliament in Blair's Labor Party confirmed he
was stepping down as an aide to the government because of its stance on
Iraq, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
And
The Sunday Times newspaper said another nine aides were expected to
follow suit if Blair went to war without a UN mandate.
"If
there is not UN authority for military action or if there is not UN
authority for the reconstruction of the country (Iraq), I will not
uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the UN and I
will resign from the government," Short told BBC radio late Sunday,
March 9.
Reckless
"I'm
afraid that I think the whole atmosphere of the current situation is
deeply reckless - reckless for the world, reckless for the undermining
of the UN in this disorderly world, which is wider than Iraq, (and
which) the whole world needs for the future," she said.
The
news has left Blair facing the biggest crisis of his six-year
Premiership as the divisions within the Labor Party threaten to turn
into open warfare and the British public remain skeptical of the merits
of disarming Baghdad without a fresh UN mandate.
Andrew
Reed, a Labor member of parliament, confirmed earlier Sunday he was
quitting as parliamentary private secretary to Environment Secretary
Margaret Beckett.
In
a statement on his website, Reed said: "I will set out my full
reasons for resigning (on Monday), but I fully support the prime
minister in his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis
through the UN route and I do not want to do anything that undermines
that effort at this stage."
The
prime minister meanwhile put in a series of frantic calls to
international leaders to try to drum up support for a fresh UN
resolution authorizing war in Iraq.
Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw also gave a clear indication of London's
desperation to get a new mandate.
"By
God we want a second resolution," Straw told LWT television.
But
he added that the government reserved the right to resort to military
action if it meant "actually putting into practice the United
Nations' own writ."
Straw's
comments came as a new opinion poll conducted by pollsters ICM showed
that only 15 percent of Britons would support a war without a fresh UN
mandate.
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Blair’s
own future could be at risk over Iraq
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With
The Sunday Times reporting that another nine aides were expected to
follow Reed's lead if Blair went to war without a fresh mandate, the
prime minister was left under no illusion as to the pressing need to
secure wider international approval.
However,
with veto-wielding UN members France and Russia having already voiced
their opposition to any second resolution and fellow Security Council
permanent member China warning him the problem would "not be solved
by relying exclusively on armed force", Blair appeared to be facing
an uphill battle.
As
Washington and London vie with the other three veto-wielding members to
secure backing from the 10 non-permanent Security Council members,
former Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson warned that "upwards of
150" Labor MPs could rebel if a second resolution was not secured.
Blair
Determined
However,
Blair’s spokesman said here on Monday he is determined to get a UN
Security Council vote on a second resolution on Iraq.
"His
focus remains resolutely on getting a second resolution," his
spokesman said.
Blair
met Short briefly on Sunday and again on Monday to discuss her stance,
his spokesman said.
