BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair yesterday echoed Washington claims to intelligence linking Iraq to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network. At the same time Mr Blair risked widening his confrontation with Labour backbenchers opposed to war by telling them that, once the threat from Saddam Hussein has been dealt with, the United Nations will have to tackle North Korea about its nuclear weapons programme.
Mr Blair lost patience with heckling Labour MPs at the end of another session of Prime Minister's Questions dominated by the prospect of war. Having heard Mr Blair pressed by the Conservative leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, over apparent inconsistencies in the Washington/London assessments of alleged links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, many Labour MPs looked sullen and uncomfortable as the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, charged that British troops in the Gulf would be integrated into the American command and control structure, with decisions in the end being taken by President Bush.
Mr Blair was plainly irritated by left-wing demands of "Where does it stop?" as he robustly rehearsed the UK/US demand that Saddam Hussein be disarmed in accordance with UN resolutions.
When Labour MP Ms Diana Abbot shouted "who's next?", Mr Blair snapped back: "After we deal with Iraq we do, yes, through the United Nations, have to confront North Korea about its weapons programme." And when another barracker from his backbenches demanded "When does it stop", Mr Blair retorted: "We stop when the threat to our security is properly and fully dealt with."
Again linking the global threat of rogue states and international terrorists, Mr Blair told Mr Duncan Smith his government knew of links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, while acknowledging it was impossible to know the extent of the linkage and again conceding there was no evidence linking the Iraqi regime to the attacks of September 11th. However, even this appeared to take Mr Blair beyond his comments to the Commons Liaison Committee last week, when he spoke of evidence linking some people in Iraq to al-Qaeda but noticeably made no claim tying them to the regime.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said yesterday he was unsure whether diplomacy would succeed in averting a conflict.
"The international situation, especially the crisis over Iraq is worrying me. I am worried about whether we will succeed in avoiding a war in Iraq," he told a conference in the western town of Wesel.
The EU's foreign affairs chief Javier Solana, meanwhile, hailed President Bush's offer to share intelligence on Iraq and said the UN's role remained key. "The centre of gravity should continue to be the United Nations," he said.
Mr Solana added that he thought the US would need to provide concrete evidence that Iraq has acquired such weapons before launching any military operations against Baghdad. - (Reuters)