While asking Iraq to let weapons inspectors back in, Annan warns the Bush not to take the law into his own hand

UNITED NATIONS, September 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will warn the United States from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly Thursday, September 12, about the dangers of acting alone against Iraq.

In a speech, published by his spokesman’s office 11 hours before he was to deliver it, Annan acknowledged that the U.N. Charter gave every country the right to self-defense if attacked. However, he said, “When states decide to use force to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations,” according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Annan is due to address the Assembly at 10:00 am (1400 GMT), before the start of its nine-day debate of world leaders.

U.S. President George W. Bush is the second scheduled speaker in the debate, and is expected to lay out the case for military action against Iraq, arguing that it is trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction in defiance of the UN Security Council.

Annan did not refer directly to the United States, but the thrust of his remarks is unmistakable.

A senior U.N. official said the speech is “a very strong restatement of the multilateral faith on which the United Nations is based,” and described it as one of the most important Annan has ever made.

He said Annan sent the text of his remarks to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, “as a courtesy” on Wednesday, September 11.

Asked whether it amounted to a warning to Washington, the senior official replied: “If it’s a warning, it’s an extremely friendly warning,” and added that Annan “desperately hopes that the Iraqi issue can be resolved peacefully.”

In his speech, Annan said Iraq’s refusal to comply with U.N. demands that it disarm was one of “four threats to world peace, where true leadership and effective action are badly needed.”

“The more a country makes use of multilateral institutions ...the more others will trust and respect it, and the stronger its chance to exercise true leadership,” he said.

The liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation by a U.S.-led coalition in 1991 showed that U.N. member states were “willing to take actions under the authority of the Security Council which they would not be willing to take without it,” he added.

Annan urged Iraq to comply with council resolutions, “for the sake of its own people and for the sake of world order.”

He appealed to any country that had influence with Iraqi leaders “to impress on them the vital importance of accepting the weapons inspections.”

If Iraq’s defiance continued, “the Security Council must face its responsibilities,” he said.

In his speech, Annan also called on the council to put aside its traditional reluctance to act in a crisis unless the states confronting each other asked it to do so.

It is that caution - plus pressure from one or more of its permanent members - which has often prevented the council from discussing, let alone acting on, the conflicts in the Middle East and between India and Pakistan.

“The existence of an effective international security system depends on the council’s authority, and therefore on the council having the political will to act, even in the most difficult cases,” Annan said.

In a separately related development, Bush is expected to ask the international community to support his tough line on Iraq when he addresses the U.N. General Assembly Thursday, according to BBC's online news service.

He is expected to push the case for a new Security Council resolution, which would set a deadline for Iraq to agree to the return of weapons inspectors, or face unspecified action.

Bush, for his part, will probably warn the U.N. that if it does not act, then the U.S. will.

The U.S. Government says it has proof Iraq has biological and chemical weapons and the potential for a nuclear capability - a claim flatly rejected by Baghdad.

Bush is expected to argue that, in this case, inaction is not an option.

“I’m going to the United Nations to give this speech for a reason, because I believe this is an international problem, and that we must work together to deal with the problem,” the U.S. President said Tuesday.

Washington has been lobbying the other four permanent members of the Security Council to support a possible military strike on Iraq.

So far, only the U.K. pledged to back action against Iraq saying there is enough evidence to justify America’s fears.

France expressed its opposition to a unilateral attack, while the Russian President said he is unconvinced that there are grounds for an attack. China also opposes any military action.

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