The U.N. Charter does not say the U.N. can change regimes: Yastrzhembsky

LONDON, October 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on the eve of a visit to Moscow by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that so far the international community has seen no evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, The Times daily reported Thursday, October 10.

“That includes the well-known document published in London”, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Putin’s special aide for Chechnya, was quoted by The Times as telling journalists in Moscow.

Yastrzhembsky was referring to a dossier published by the British government last month which claimed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might be only a year or two away from possessing a nuclear bomb and could deploy chemical and biological weapons in 45 minutes, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

“You could call it PR support for possible strikes,” Yastrzhembsky was quoted as saying.

Russians had little sympathy for Saddam, Yastrzhembsky added, but “the U.N. Charter does not say the U.N. can change regimes.”

Blair was to travel to Russia later Thursday for two days of face-to-face talks with Putin.

Russia said Tuesday it was ready to support a new U.N. resolution on Iraq that would make weapons inspections more effective in order to lift international concerns over Baghdad’s military program, although it was still unwilling to support a U.S. bid to draft a resolution that would include the threat of force should Baghdad fail to open up all its sites to the U.N. team.

“If proposals are submitted to the U.N. Security Council that raise the effectiveness of weapons inspectors in Iraq, we will support them,” the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as saying.

At the same time, Ivanov did not confirm a statement from one of his deputies issued earlier that said Russia was ready to back a French proposal for a two-stage ultimatum against Saddam’s regime.

Russia, which is one of five permanent U.N. Security Council members with veto power, had previously argued that checks on Iraq's weapons program could be effectively launched under terms of existing resolutions.

The Times also reported that Blair had given his clearest signal yet that Britain would back America in destroying Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, with or without the support of Russia and other members of the United Nations Security Council.

Blair has repeatedly emphasized that he wants to work through the U.N. But the Times reported that he told the BBC World Service: “That (the U.N. route) is our preference but nobody should be in any doubt that if it isn’t dealt with in that way, it has got to be dealt with differently.”

He added that while war was not inevitable, Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction would be removed “one way or another”.

Blair is to spend the night at Putin’s country dacha at Zavidovo, a one-time hunting ground for Soviet Red Army commanders, two hours north of Moscow, with more talks, and a joint press conference, to follow on Friday, October 11.

The trip is taking place against a backdrop of intense consultations between the five permanent U.N. Security Council member states on a new resolution to back up U.N. arms inspectors when they go back into Iraq.

The United States and Britain are pressuring the other members of the security council to have a single resolution that would threaten an automatic recourse to force if Saddam refuses to allow full and free inspections.

Blair has signaled, however, that Britain could live with a French preference for one resolution on arms inspectors, followed by another, if necessary, authorizing the use of force.

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