Report
by Khaled Mamdouh, IOL Staff
CAIRO,
February 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Reactions Wednesday,
February 5, from the key players of the U.N. Security Council members
indicated the failure of U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell’s
“presentation” on Iraq, with Russia and China insisting on giving
U.N. weapons inspectors “all the time they needed”.
Chinese
Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan was the first to “take the microphone”
after Powell finished his “show”. Jiaxuan said U.N. arms inspectors
should be given more time to root out Iraq’s weapons of mass
destruction programs.
In
an apparent disappointment to Powell, Jiaxuan called on the United
States to hand the intelligence used in the briefing to the inspectors.
The State Secretary sure wanted his Chinese colleague to put a clear
vote for “war now”.
However,
Jiaxuan praised the work of U.N. inspection teams and observers from the
International Atomic Energy Agency over the past two months.
“It
is their view that now they are not in a position to draw conclusions,
and they have suggested continuing the inspections,” said Tang.
“We
should respect their views of the two agencies and support the
continuation of their work.”
“The
two agencies pointed out some problems in the inspections. We urge Iraq
to adopt a more proactive approach with further explanations and
clarifications as soon as possible and cooperate with the inspection
process.”
Tang
argued that any decisions on how to deal with Iraqi noncompliance to
resolutions demanding its disarmament should be made by the Security
Council.
“It
is the universal desire of the international community to see a
political settlement to the issue of Iraq within the U.N. framework and
avoid a war,” he said.
“This
is something that the Security Council must attach importance to. As
long as there is still the slightest hope of a political settlement, we
should devote our utmost effort to achieve that.”
“China
is ready to join others who are working towards this direction,” he
said, but did not rule out Chinese acquiescence to any decision to use
force to impose disarmament on Iraq.
Beijing
has consistently advocated more time for inspections in Iraq, and argued
that the United Nations Security Council should be the final arbiter of
their effectiveness. Had Powell’s show succeeded, that position would
have naturally be reversed. It did not.
Adding
more salt to injury, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that
Powell's presentation on Iraq indicates that U.N. weapons inspections in
Iraq must continue.
The
presentation “indicates that the activities of the international
inspectors in Iraq must be continued,” Ivanov said.
“This
information has to be immediately handed over for processing by the IAEA
through on-site verification during the inspections in Iraq,” he said,
referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency that has checked for
any nuclear weapons programs in Iraq.
“Experts
in our countries must immediately get down to analyzing and drawing the
appropriate conclusions,” Ivanov said.
“We
must once again appeal to all states immediately to hand over to the
international inspectors any information that can help them discharge
their responsible mandate,” he said.
Russia
would work to create the best possible conditions for the inspectors in
Iraq, including offering an airplane for surveillance and additional
inspectors if needed, he said.
Ivanov
called for unity within the Security Council and urged the international
community to keep up its focus on combating terrorism.
“We
are just at the beginning of a very difficult battle with terrorism,”
he said. “The unity of the world community will continue to be the
main guarantee for the effectiveness of its action.”
The
Iraqi officials, for their part, dismissed Powell’s presentation
completely, branding it a “bad movie”, that proved one thing only;
U.S. failure to present a convincing case to go to war against Baghdad.
A
political commentator on Iraqi satellite television dismissed Powell's
report alleging Iraqi concealment of banned weapons as a
"farce".
“International
public opinion ... will only find (the report) to be farce,” he said,
in the broadcast monitored from Agence France-Presse (AFP) offices in
Dubai.
“The
game played by Bush junior, through his foreign minister, is only a
sloppy attempt to repeat lies aimed at deceiving world public opinion
and creating excuses for a war on Iraq,” the commentator charged.
Straw
Tries to Save Powell’s Face
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Could
this be anything but a truck?
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As
expected though, Britain warned Iraq that it was spurning its last
chance to avoid a war and said the time was fast arriving for the U.N.
Security Council to accept the “inescapable” outcome of its own
resolutions.
Following
the Powell show, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the only
possible conclusion was that Iraq was in “further material breach”
of U.N. resolutions demanding it rid itself of weapons of mass
destruction.
Straw
told the Council that U.N. Resolution 1441 - which calls for “serious
consequences,” diplomatic language for a military attack, in the event
of Iraqi noncompliance - was very clear.
“The
United Kingdom does not want war, ... but the logic of Resolution 1441
is inescapable,” he said.
“Time
is now very short,” Straw said, pointing to next week’s report to
the council by U.N. weapons inspectors as marking a decision-making
moment.
“If
(Iraqi) non-cooperation continues, this Council must meet its
responsibilities.”
Britain
is the only ally seeing eye-to-eye with Washington as far as war drums
against Iraq are beaten. However, the British Premier and his Foreign
Secretary are facing an increasingly tense opposition among the ranks of
their own Party and cabinet to their war stance.
Almost
two thirds of the British public are also against pulling the trigger.
Powell
Tried to Make Impressing Entrance
Accompanied
by a remarkably big delegation, including Central Intelligence Agency
Chief George Tenet, Powell entered the Security Council Conference room,
in New York, with a wide smile on his face, apparently trying to express
a feeling of confidence.
However,
his body language and the looks on the faces of those around him,
especially Tenet’s, revealed almost the opposite. With aides hugging
him, batting him on the shoulder, in clear signs of encouragement, it
was clear Powell was not so sure about the result of the case or
“show” he was about to present.
He
then took his place, blew kisses to other attendees, and the show went
on.
However,
it was immediately clear that no new information would be presented,
even the intercepted phone calls and space images succeeded only in
revealing a suspicious atmosphere.
The
Iraqis, on one hand, cast deep doubts over the voices on the tapes
whether they were Iraqis in the first place, as well as doubting the
authenticity or even significance of the vague images shown.
The
greatest effect Powell could ever hope for now is that for his show to
throw doubts in the hearts and minds of “some Security Council
members”, so as to start seeing what the U.S.-U.K. see now, and agree
to at least bless war, without necessarily joining the club.
