EU warns Iraq it faces ‘last chance’
French President Jacques Chirac, left, shares a word with Spain's Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar prior to the EU summit in Brussels on Monday. The
meeting ended with an agreed statement urging Iraq to comply with U.N.
disarmament resolutions.
Feb. 17 — European leaders united Monday behind a strongly
worded declaration warning Iraq that it faced a “last chance” to
disarm peacefully and affirming solidarity with the United
States. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government, hoping to stave off a
U.S.-led attack, reported the first flight by a U.S. U-2
surveillance plane Monday in support of the U.N. inspections.
“AT 11:55 A.M., a U-2 surveillance plane entered Iraqi airspace
and reconnoitered several areas of Iraq and left Iraqi airspace at 4:15
p.m.,” the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The
reconnaissance operation lasted four hours and 20 minutes.”
Last week, the Iraqis agreed to allow U-2 flights, fulfilling a
major demand by U.N. inspectors seeking to determine if Iraq still
harbors weapons of mass destruction. The statement did not
indicate what areas were covered by the flight.
The move by Iraq came as the European Union agreed on a plan
to warn Iraq that it faced a “last chance” to disarm peacefully.
The declaration by 15 European Union leaders gave firm
backing for the U.S. and British demand for swift action to disarm
Iraq. But it also recognized the Franco-German drive for a peaceful
solution, calling war “a last resort.”
“Baghdad should have no illusions. It must disarm and
cooperate immediately and fully. The Iraqi regime alone will be
responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of
the international community and does not take this last chance,”
the leaders said in a joint declaration.
POSSIBILITY OF MILITARY ACTION
France and Germany, who oppose war, appeared to emerge in a
strong position Monday night after the EU statement backed more
time for the U.N. weapons inspectors, without giving a deadline.
“They must be given the time and resources that the U.N.
Security Council believes they need,” the declaration said.
Germany went along with a statement that did not rule out
military action. But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the
EU adopted compromise wording that omitted a warning that “time
is rapidly running out,” at German insistence.
“We have never ruled
out that war can be a last
resort,” said the chancellor,
who last year insisted
Germany would not support
or participate in military
action even if it were
endorsed by the U.N.
Security Council.
British Prime Minister
Tony Blair said he was
convinced that Iraq was
already in breach of U.N.
resolutions to disarm, but
other EU nations appeared
to need time to reach the
same decision.
“There’s still a lot of
debate to be had on that
issue,” Blair said.
Seeking not only to mend rifts in the European Union, but also
with the United States, the leaders also gave the U.S. military
buildup in the Persian Gulf credit for forcing Saddam Hussein to
work with U.N. weapons inspectors.
“We are committed to working with all our partners, especially
the United States, for the disarmament of Iraq, for peace and
stability in the region,” the leaders said.
Earlier the summit appeared heading for a rupture after France
declared it would block any early move to war.
EU RIFT
With the split undermining EU unity and its ability to speak
with a single voice, Britain and France offered starkly different
views, with London calling for a swift deadline for action and Paris
insisting on more time to peacefully disarm Iraq.
President Jacques Chirac
said France would oppose
any effort to draft a new U.N.
resolution authorizing war at
this time. France, Germany
and others say Iraq can be
disarmed peacefully and must be given time.
“There is no need for a second resolution today, which France
would have no choice but to oppose,” said Chirac. France has a
veto on the U.N. Security Council.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said time was running out and
the EU must set limits on how much longer it will allow Iraq to
remain defiant.
“I think most people understand ... if that (disarming) cannot be
done peacefully, it must be done by force,” Blair said. “That’s why
we require a timetable,” he said.
SECOND U.N. RESOLUTION
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Britain and the United States, bracing for a heated debate on
Iraq at the United Nations, will push ahead this week with a new
resolution seeking authority to disarm Saddam Hussein forcefully,
diplomats from the two allies said Monday.
The resolution likely will be circulated Wednesday after two
days of open debate designed mostly to voice opposition to the
Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they
expected Security Council negotiations on the draft to be wrapped
up by the time chief weapons inspector Hans Blix delivers his next
report March 1.
Blix’s upcoming assessment will be delivered as a written report
to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council. The
report then will become an official U.N. document and be made
public, but without the fanfare of a televised appearance before a
council chamber stacked with foreign ministers, as happened last
week.
European parliamentary leaders, who met with U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan before he entered the EU summit,
said Annan stressed that he did not want the weapons inspections
to go on too long.
Officials in both capitals spent the weekend reworking what
was supposed to be a very tough, punchy resolution. Diplomats
said the final text will place Iraq in material breach of its obligations
and reiterate that Saddam now faces serious consequences. But it
likely will not make an explicit call to arms.
Last November, under U.S. pressure, the Security Council
unanimously approved a resolution that led to a resumption of arms
inspections after a four-year break and called for “serious
consequences” if Iraq failed to disarm or to prove it had no illegal
weapons.
NATO DEADLOCK BROKEN
The divisions in the EU over a new U.N. resolution were also
reflected at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where Belgium, France
and Germany had held out for a month against 14 European allies —
as well as the United States and Canada — over starting defensive
measures to protect Turkey in case of an Iraq war. The stalemate
had opened the biggest rift in the West since the Cold War.
Germany and Belgium dropped their objections for a deal late
Sunday, but the only way NATO got the deal was by going to its
Defense Planning Committee, which Paris withdrew from in 1966, to
negotiate an end to the NATO deadlock. Paris participates only in
political consultations.
“Alliance solidarity has prevailed. We have been able
collectively to overcome the impasse,” NATO Secretary-General
Lord Robertson declared.
Still, after the deal was reached, France, Germany and Belgium
issued a statement balancing their commitment to honor their
defense obligations with their desire to disarm Iraq peacefully.
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