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| "If there is a U.N. resolution that imposes certain measures on Iraq, we will support it," said Maher |
CAIRO,
September 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Although Egypt and
France have previously declared their opposition to a U.S. strike
against Iraq, ministers in both countries said Friday, September 13,
that their countries will support a U.N.-backed military action
against Iraq.
Egypt
would give its reluctant support to military action against Iraq if it
was endorsed by the United Nations, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said
in comments published Friday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
"Egypt,
because of practical reasons and principles, cannot support U.S.
military action unless there is a U.N. resolution against Iraq's
refusal to implement international resolutions and, in this case, Egypt
will support the resolutions of international legality," Maher
said.
"If
there is a U.N. resolution that imposes certain measures on Iraq, we
will support it," he said in the interview with Time
magazine, excerpts of which were published in Arabic in Cairo's Al-Ahram
daily.
"Iraq
must accept the return of the international weapons inspection team.
If it doesn't, Egypt
sees that this must be dealt with in the framework of the United
Nations."
But
Maher cautioned that Egypt
still believed "a military strike would destabilize the Middle
East."
"The
Arab peoples are angry at what is happening in Palestine and, for
humanitarian reasons, at what is happening to the Iraqi people.
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"Nothing is ruled out," said Alliot-Marie
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"A
strike on Iraq will exacerbate this anger, even though many people in
the Arab region have no sympathy for [President] Saddam Hussein,"
he said.
Maher
gave the interview before U.S. President George W. Bush's speech on
Iraq before the U.N. General Assembly Thursday, September 12, in which
he said U.S. action against Baghdad was "unavoidable" unless
the United Nations disarmed Iraq, AFP said.
The
Egyptian point of view was echoed by French
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie who said Friday
that France does not rule out joining a military attack on Iraq as
long as it takes place under U.N. authority.
"Nothing
is ruled out," she said on Europe 1 radio. "As we have shown
in Afghanistan, our armies have the human and technological capability
necessary to play a role. If we choose to take part, we will not go
unnoticed."
Asked
about Bush's speech to the U.N. Thursday, September 12, Alliot-Marie
said, "It was a warning, a warning which we pushed for and indeed
helped formulate. We think it is essential that international legality
prevails in matters as complicated as this.
"France
has made clear that it will not join anything that takes place outside
the Security Council. We will examine the situation ... and act
according to what the Security Council has decided and to our own
analysis of the situation," she said.
