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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (19623)	3/18/2003 11:17:47 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 23908

What of Mexico, another great, foul-weather US ally.... [chuckle] Didn't know Vicente Fox was French... how come? Mexico Keeps Its Vote on Iraq a Secret MEXICO CITY (AP) --Mexico's decision to keep its U.N. Security Council vote on Iraq a secret allowed it to be a key player in negotiations until the very end, the country's foreign secretary said Tuesday. During a television interview with the Televisa network, Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez appeared to criticize other countries --like France and Spain-- who stated their positions on Iraq weeks before a Security Council vote was scheduled. ``You lose your opportunity to be an actor'' in negotiations, he said. Mexico was the subject of intense lobbying from both sides of the debate. The United States wanted its southern neighbor to support war, while France was pushing for peace. Mexican President Vicente Fox called repeatedly for the disarmament of Saddam Hussein, but stopped short of supporting war against Iraq. Recent polls showed the majority of Mexicans were against military action, but others worried that a vote against war would strain Mexican-U.S. ties. Derbez said he believed the debate on Iraq did not harm Mexico's relations with the United States--unlike other countries who publicly opposed the U.S. stance on Iraq. U.S. officials understood Mexico's position that there should be an agreement that all countries could support, he said, and that's why Mexico quietly worked for an alternative to a U.S.-backed resolution paving the way for war. Mexico's concern was about the resolution--not the United States, Derbez said. ``We aren't against a country,'' he said. He added that there could be ``costs'' associated with Mexico's decision--including angry U.S. investors or lawmakers--but he said that Mexico's relationship with the United States was still strong. Derbez said the decision by the United States, Britain and Spain to abandon efforts to win U.N. backing for military action avoided a crisis in the United Nations. And he indicated that the decision of some countries to reveal their positions before an actual vote caused divisions that kept the Security Council from reaching a consensus. He said Mexico's decision to keep its vote secret allowed it to continue negotiations until Monday, when U.S. President George W. Bush ordered Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq or face war. austin360.com