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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (10151)	2/19/2003 3:39:20 AM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Key U.S. Allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey Harden Opposition to U.S. War on Iraq COMPILED FROM DISPATCHES TEHRAN -- Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal warned the United States against waging war on Iraq without UN support, saying it would be seen as a "war of aggression" and would destabilize the whole Middle East. In the strongest statement so far by key U.S. ally Saudi Arabia against a possible attack on Iraq, Prince Saud said going ahead without the United Nations would be especially dangerous. "We think war is going to be a tremendous threat to the region," Prince Saud told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in an interview, excerpts of which were aired on Tuesday. "Independent action in this (Iraqi issue), we don't believe is good for the United States," he added. "It would encourage people to think... that what they're doing is a war of aggression rather than a war for the implementation of the United Nations resolutions. "We think that, especially if it doesn't come through the United Nations' authority, that it would be a dangerous thing to do," he warned. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer also said on Tuesday that Ankara will only open its territory to U.S. combat troops if a new UN resolution is passed to authorize military action against Baghdad. "We have been saying from the very beginning that the presence of foreign soldiers in Turkey could be (allowed) in circumstances considered legitimate by international law," said Sezer, quoted by the Anatolia News Agency. "In order to have a situation deemed legitimate under international law, we believe there should be a Security Council resolution other than Resolution 1441," he said. Saudi Arabia, which was a main launchpad for the 1991 U.S.-led Persian Gulf War to liberate Kuwait from an Iraqi invasion, fears a military strike would split its neighbor Iraq along religious and ethnic lines. The kingdom has spearheaded a diplomatic drive aimed at averting a war and Riyadh has yet to say whether it will allow U.S. forces on its soil to strike Iraq. Prince Saud told the BBC that the United States' aim to attack Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein was "self-defeating", adding that the only way to change Baghdad's leadership would be from the inside. "If the choice is to destroy Iraq in order to get Saddam Hussein, it is a self-defeating policy, isn't it?" he asked. "I mean, you destroy a country to get a person out - it doesn't work," he said. "There has never been in the history of the world a country in which a regime change happened at the bayonets of guns that has led to stability." Arab officials say Saudi Arabia is lobbying Washington to grant amnesty to Saddam's top generals, partly to encourage them to overthrow him. Prince Saud also lashed out at the United States, saying that Saudi Arabia -- which was subjected to a vitriolic U.S. media campaign for allegedly breeding Islamic militancy -- was worried about rising fundamentalism in America. "Our worry is the new emerging fundamentalism in the United States and in the West. Fundamentalism in our region is on the wane. There, it's in the ascendancy. That's a threat," he added. Saudi-U.S. ties took a battering after the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which 19 suicide attackers -- most of them Saudis -- hijacked airlines and smashed them into key sites in New York and Washington. The United States suspects Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack. The BBC said it interviewed Prince Saud on the sidelines of an Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo this week in which Arab countries pledged not to help the United States attack Iraq. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the ruling Justice and Development Party, also warned the United States Tuesday that an initial decision to back U.S. military preparations against Iraq did not mean Ankara had embarked on an irreversible pro-U.S. path. "Our American friends should not interpret this decision (to mean) that Turkey has embarked on an irreversible road" in support of the United States, said Erdogan. The warning came as talks between Turkey and the United States hit an impasse on the amount of financial assistance Ankara is requesting from Washington to offset the economic impact of a war in neighboring Iraq. Earlier this month, Parliament voted to allow Washington to upgrade sea ports and air bases that could be used in an operation against Iraq. Ankara has postponed a second vote on the deployment of U.S. soldiers on Turkish soil, which was expected to take place Tuesday. Erdogan urged the United States to consider "with good will" Turkey's demands for financial assistance, adding that Ankara would not make unilateral "sacrifices" in support of a possible U.S. operation against Iraq. Despite vocal public opposition to military action against Iraq, European territory is set to be used by U.S. forces as a major stepping-stone if war breaks out. U.S. requests for transit permission have been granted by most governments across the continent, with France one of the few major nations that has as yet refused to give the go-ahead. Washington had made requests to several European countries for the use of their military bases, the right for U.S. jets to make refuelling stops on the way to Iraq, and permission to make fly-overs. Even the German government, which is strongly opposed to any military action against Iraq, has said British and U.S. forces will be able to use German airspace as well as their bases in the country, which forms the headquarters for U.S. troops in Europe. U.S. and British soldiers, aircraft, tanks and other military equipment based in Germany have already been transferred toward the Persian Gulf ahead of possible military action. <http://www.tehrantimes.com/images/blueline.gif>