King Hussein of Jordan has refused to support any British-US military action in Iraq that would affect civilians insisting the people had suffered enough, writes Rachel Donnelly in London.
King Hussein informed the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, of his decision during a 45minute meeting at Downing Street yesterday hours before eight British Tornado bombers, carrying 1,000 lb laser-guided bombs, landed in Kuwait. The king was responding to pressure from Mr Blair to support military action and send a clear message to President Saddam Hussein that the pursuit of diplomatic solutions was not endless.
Mr Blair insisted a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Iraq would not succeed unless it was backed by a clear determination to proceed with the threat of force.
The US has also announced an increase of its troops in Kuwait, with another 3,000 ground troops on their way there.
In the Commons, the Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, delivered a stark assessment of the threat posed by Iraq. New information had shown that Mr Saddam could have possessed the chemical weapon Agent 15 since the 1980s. Mr Robertson said the chemical was a "mental incapacitant" capable of inducing weakness, dizziness, disorientation and loss of co-ordination.
Earlier, a delegation of Labour MPs, led by Mr Tony Benn and Mr Ken Livingstone, delivered a letter to Mr Blair at Downing Street condemning Britain's role as "the only cheerleader for US sabre-rattling within the international community". The letter, which was also signed by the Labour MPs, Mr Jeremy Corbyn and Mr Tam Dalyell, called on the Prime Minister to pull back from the threat of military action in Iraq which, it said, was designed to deflect attention from President Clinton's domestic difficulties.
AFP adds from Baghdad: Iraq yesterday called Mr Blair, a "liar and impostor" for his weekend statements that Baghdad possesses enough chemical weapons to "annihilate the entire world".
Radio Baghdad said that "Tony Blair, this little valet of the White House, is a liar and impostor [because] all he does is claim that Iraq possesses chemical weapons capable of annihilating the entire world."
The official Iraqi news agency INA quoted a Radio Baghdad commentator as saying that Blair `knows very well that Iraq no longer possesses these kinds of weapons after having submitted its banned arms programmes to international supervision for seven years." The commentator added that "the claims of Tony Blair reflect his wish to pursue colonial policies".