"I believe military intervention carried out without (U.N) mandate would be illegitimate", said Sampaio

LISBON, March 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the U.S. stepped up efforts to garner support for a new resolution paving the way for a military aggression against Iraq, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio charged Friday, March 14, that any unilateral war without the backing of the United Nations would be illegitimate.

"Only the Security Council can make the final decision as to how to enforce its resolutions," he said during a speech in Lisbon, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I therefore believe military intervention carried out without its mandate would be illegitimate and would put at grave risk the legal order established in the post-war period by the U.S. government of the time," he asserted.

Sampaio added the focus of diplomatic efforts should be the disarmament of Iraq and not "any other strategy or the change in its regime, even if this regime is hateful and unbearable to us."

"Unfortunately, despite the impressive demonstrations in favor of a process that explores all the possibilities for peace, it is above all signs of an imminent war that reach us," he said.

"We should lament this for the loss of human life that war would bring and because unilateral military action would produce unavoidable and dangerous damage in the fabric of relations between nations and cultures, would weaken alliances and favor cleavages in Europe," said the Portuguese president.

British Forces "Not Fully Ready" for War

"We can wait here for a long time if it's required," Jackson said

British forces in the Gulf region are not fully ready for a potential attack on Iraq but could fight if necessary, Britain's armed forces chief said Friday.

"There's a couple more ships yet to come," General Sir Mike Jackson said in Kuwait.

"I would have thought that four or five days would be ideal ... but even if (war) were today, it's good to go."

Jackson, who took over last month as chief of the general staff, was in Kuwait for a 24-hour visit to the 25,000 British troops here as part of the massive buildup for war against Iraq.

He also met with U.S. military commanders of coalition land forces massing on the border with Iraq.

About 1,500 new British troops are arriving each day in Kuwait, military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Debbie Noble said.

Refusing to speculate on when, or if, a war might break out, Jackson told soldiers of the First Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment that "there's much political work to be done" and said war was not inevitable.

Jackson said he was not concerned about the effects of heat on his troops if they were forced to fight during the scorching summer months.

"We can wait here for a long time if it's required," Jackson said. "The heat here is a difficulty but it is not an impossibility."

Public opposition to war has led to massive demonstrations attempting to pressure British Prime Minister Tony Blair to renege his support for the U.S.-led war schemes.

Polls show a majority of Britons would only support an attack if U.N. arms inspectors find proof Iraq is hiding banned nuclear, biological or chemical weapons and the Security Council passes a new resolution authorizing force.

Jackson said British troops deployed in the Gulf were aware of the debate raging at home, but are prepared to do their jobs if war becomes inevitable.

Meanwhile, the British troops in the desert keep their edge with daily combat drills and practice for chemical or biological warfare.

"There's an entire desert that we can train on," said Lieutenant Matt Heaven, a platoon commander in the Royal Irish Regiment.