IRELAND/EU: The Taoiseach has said the US report to the UN Security Council had provided the world with clear evidence Iraq has secretly produced weapons of mass destruction and that it was now up to Baghdad to avoid war by disarming.
"I think the report is strong and clear," Mr Bertie Ahern told a news conference following talks with his Portuguese counterpart, Mr Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
"I think they now know that time has practically run out. Hopefully the Iraqi regime might listen," he added.
"I hope they do, they can avoid all this turmoil. That rests in the hands of Saddam Hussein and his colleagues."
Mr Ahern was in Portugal as part of a series of trips to EU member-states and candidate countries in the run-up to Ireland's EU presidency next year.
Meanwhile, the EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana said yesterday that the US report was "very solid".
"It is very clear that the regime in Baghdad is not cooperating with the inspectors," Mr Solana said.
But Mr Solana said the EU remained opposed to military action against Iraq without Security Council backing.
"We want the process to continue within the Security Council of the UN. That should be the place where the important decisions will have to be taken," he said. - (AFP)
Mark Brennock adds:
A spokesman for the Minister for Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the level of Iraqi co-operation with the UN arms inspectors over the next week was now crucial. "The US has supplied the material presented by Colin Powell to the UN weapons inspectors. The Iraqis have to let the inspectors follow up on these issues. The inspectors are reporting to the Security Council on February 14th. Resolution 1441 was designed to let the inspectors in to see if they can get the Iraqis to co-operate. If it is their view that they are not getting the level of co-operation required, then the Security Council will act on that."