|
  |
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cautious Asian reaction to U.S. evidence
Staff and wires
UNITED NATIONS -- Asian reaction to the U.S. case against Iraq has been cautious with major ally Japan stopping short of openly backing military action without United Nations endorsement and China stressing that a political solution is still the best strategy. Speaking after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's address to the U.N. Security Council, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said the latest information would help weapons inspectors complete their task and that evidence should be handed over to them immediately. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meanwhile told a parliamentary panel Thursday that suspicions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction had now increased. "Whether the situation can be resolved peacefully depends on Iraq," Reuters reports Koizumi saying. "Japan must respond as a responsible member of international society and an ally of the United States." Analysts suggest Japan will lend symbolic moral support to any U.S. moves against Iraq but its constitution -- plus public opinion -- would prevent it providing practical military assistance. America's casePowell used electronic intercepts, satellite photographs and other intelligence sources Wednesday in an effort to convince skeptical members of the U.N. Security Council that Iraq was actively working to deceive U.N. weapons inspectors. (Full story) Iraq dismissed Powell's claims as "assumptions and presumptions" which offered "no new evidence." China's Tang said it was the view of the U.N. arms inspectors that "now they are not in a position to draw conclusions, and they have suggested continuing the inspections." "We should respect the views of the two U.N. agencies and support the continuation of their work," he said. "As long as there is still the slightest hope for political settlement, we should exert our utmost to achieve that," he said. Tang also urged Iraq to adopt a more proactive approach and provide further explanations and clarifications as soon as possible and to cooperate with the inspection process. China is one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and has the power to veto any U.N. vote on military action against Iraq. CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime Florcruz says that if the U.S. wants the United Nations to vote on a new resolution giving its mandate to forcibly disarm Iraq, Washington will need to do more effective lobbying in order to get China to vote "yes" -- or at least abstain --and not use its veto power. Australian support
Australia, a staunch supporter of the U.S. stance on Iraq, said the Powell address provided "cast-iron evidence" of Baghdad's duplicity. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the evidence proved that Iraq was not cooperating with the U.N.'s resolution, passed in November, requiring it to disarm. "It's a deeply disturbing additional submission which confirms what (U.N. chief weapons inspector) Hans Blix was saying 10 days ago," Downer told Australian radio. "There is no question that Iraq is endeavoring to circumvent Security Council resolutions ... it's trying to frustrate the work of the inspectors instead of cooperating fully," Reuters reports Downer saying. Australia has already sent troops and prepared fighter jets to join American and British forces gathering in the Gulf for a possible war with Iraq, despite public opposition in Australia to any strike taking place without U.N. approval. No commitmentThe government has not, however, publicly committed itself to supporting non-sanctioned military action. Indonesia said the evidence presented demonstrated the need for more work by U.N. weapons inspectors, not unilateral action. "The information addressed by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell before the U.N. Security Council reaffirms our stance that the United Nations needs to continue its task and to complete its mission," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told Reuters. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, has consistently cautioned against any unilateral attack by the U.S. and its allies. Pakistan, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, backed the Chinese position after Powell's address, saying the U.N. weapons inspectors still needed more time to complete their task in Iraq. Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said it was up to chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed El Baradei to judge whether Iraq was complying with resolutions demanding its disarmament. War prospects rise"We should await their conclusions, positive or negative ... what the inspectors report is to constitute is a central basis for the judgment that the Security Council is supposed to make regarding Iraqi compliance," he said. New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said the new U.S. evidence raised prospect of war to well above 70 per cent. Clark said it now looked very likely there would be "catastrophic consequences with or without U.N. Security Council approval," a report in the New Zealand Herald says. There could be war with Iraq early next month unless there was a radical change of attitude from Iraqi authorities, she said. She said the U.S. had produced what looked like "pretty good evidence of a pattern of deception to ensure the (United Nations weapons) inspectors couldn't find out where anything is." The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
