E.U., Russia Renew Opposition to U.S. Strike on Iraq

MOSCOW, Aug 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Russia urged the United States Wednesday, August 7, not to miss a "window of opportunity" for avoiding military strikes against Iraq following Baghdad's tentative offer to accept the resumption of a U.N. weapons inspections program, as the European Union (E.U.) said the U.S. must exhaust diplomatic avenues before attacking Iraq.

"Russia thinks it is very important that we do not miss this window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the situation around Iraq," Interfax quoted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as saying, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Ivanov once again reiterated Russia's call for any strike against Iraq to be sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council.

"Any other actions, especially military ones, are unacceptable from the point of view of international law, and can complicate the already-difficult situation in the … Gulf and the Middle East," Russia's top diplomat stressed.

Russia, along with France, and more recently Germany, have refused to support Washington's plans to launch a fresh attack on Iraq under the pretext of toppling Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri last week sent a letter inviting chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to Baghdad for talks on the possible resumption of weapons monitoring, which was interrupted in 1998.

But on Tuesday, August 6, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan asked Baghdad to confirm that it would adopt the Security Council's terms on disarmament and weapons inspections before a United Nations official accepted an Iraqi invitation to visit.

Meanwhile in Brussels, the European Union stressed Wednesday the need for Washington to exhaust diplomatic channels before resorting to military action against Iraq.

But while the 15-nation E.U. refused to comment officially on U.S. preparations for war against Iraq, several E.U. diplomats said the U.S. administration was divided over the issue and was unlikely to be able to launch a military offensive before next year.

"The E.U. supports the efforts of the United Nations Secretary General, who has been mandated by the Security Council to pursue diplomatic efforts", a spokeswoman for E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.

"Everyone at the E.U. agrees that we must pursue diplomatic efforts as far as possible before deciding on military action," agreed one diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous.

He stressed the importance of safeguarding the troubled Middle East region from further unrest.

Several E.U. diplomats also stressed the "lack of consensus" within the U.S. administration about a U.S. strike on Iraq.

"It's people who want to influence the decision one way or the other who are putting out this sort of information," said one diplomat, referring to leaks describing scenarios for a U.S. attack.

But he said military action was unfeasible in the immediate future and was likely, if it took place, to happen next year.

The European Commission, the E.U.'s executive arm, refused to comment on the "hypothetical question" of military action against Iraq.

And the Council of Ministers, the E.U.'s top decision-making body, dismissed talk of a U.S. attack on Iraq as "advanced speculation."

A Council spokesman said the E.U. position was clear: "Iraq must satisfy all the obligations fixed by the United Nations resolutions concerning it ... such as allowing weapons inspectors to travel freely within its territory," he said.

And in London, a British government minister said Wednesday that war against Iraq is neither imminent or inevitable, so long as Saddam Hussein respects international law and lets U.N. weapons inspectors back in Iraq.

"It is not imminent, and it is not inevitable," Mike O'Brien, Britain's minister for Middle East affairs, said in a BBC radio interview.

"Nobody wants war for the sake of it," O'Brien said. "We understand there are issues in relation to Iraq. In particular, we need to make sure the inspectors go in."

"The ball is now in Saddam Hussein's court," he added.

"He must ensure that the inspectors go into Iraq and that international law is complied with. If international law is complied with, of course the position will then be very different."

O'Brien was speaking from Libya, where he was to meet its President Moamer Kadhafi during the first visit to the North African nation by a British minister in nearly 20 years.

In a front-page report Wednesday, the Guardian newspaper quoted Mudhafar Amin, Baghdad's representative in London, as saying that Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was ready to visit Britain "to talk with any British official."

Iraq regards Britain as the only country with the power to stave off a U.S. offensive, said Amin, according to the left-leaning daily.

"I have had phone calls from religious people, churches, in Britain asking how to break the impasse," Amin said. "I told them: 'Ask the British government what they want from Iraq and we will do it.’"

The Guardian interpreted Amin's remarks as a sign that Baghdad is "pinning its hopes" on convincing Prime Minister Tony Blair's government not to support a U.S. strike.

Blair, the E.U. leader closest to the U.S. President, faces growing skepticism among Britons over the legitimacy of an attack on Iraq that lacks a U.N. mandate, and over whether British troops should fight alongside U.S. forces.

Joining the debate Wednesday was Sir Michael Quinlan, permanent under-secretary at the British defense ministry in 1988-92 when Conservative prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and then John Major were in power.

"A U.K. government decision to participate in a U.S.-led assault could provoke more severe domestic division that Britain has seen since the Suez crisis" in 1956, Quinlan wrote in the Financial Times.

For the British government, to oppose the Bush administration on Iraq "would be a serious step," he said, "but this is a serious matter; and what is influence for?"

The Bush administration "would scarcely be unmoved by a clear signal, whether public or private, from its most solid ally that neither military participation nor political support was to be assumed," he said.

In a poll last weekend, Britain's Channel Four television found that 52 percent of respondents felt that Britain should not militarily take part in a U.S. strike on Iraq.

Thirty-four percent were in favor, while 14 percent were undecided.

On Tuesday, August 6, Christian pacifists, including the next spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, presented Blair's office with a 2,000-name petition arguing that a war on Iraq would be immoral.

• Annan Insists Iraq Accepts U.N. Terms