The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
|
Hello all,
it seems that an extension of the war on terrorism
to Iraq will be not that easy.
Dirk Adriaensens.
OSLO, Dec 9
(AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said here
Sunday that an attempt to extend the war on terrorism to Iraq would be "unwise" and would require consideration by the UN Security Council. "Any attempt or any decision to attack Iraq today will be unwise and could lead to a major escalation in the region," Annan said in Oslo where he was to receive his Nobel Peace Prize Monday. "I hope that it will not be the case." "Any attempt to take military action in other parts of the world would be something the (UN Security) Council would have to take up," Annan said, adding that a recent UN resolution against terrorism did not envision use of force outside Afghanistan. The United States said soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks that it would take its war on terrorism to states that harbored terrorists and some officials in the administration of President George W. Bush said they considered Iraq to be high on that list. However top US officials, responding to international criticism of that threat, have in recent weeks stressed that there were no plans at present to attack Iraq and Annan said the war on terrorism could be won only by all countries working together. "I think we are all confronted with a struggle against terrorism," he said, adding: "We win the fight by cooperation among nations or we don't win it at all." The UN secretary general described the unfolding situation inside Afghanistan as "very complex and very difficult" and said an international force needed to move in soon to help ensure stability and the delivery of humanitarian assistance there. Annan confirmed that December 22, the date the new interim Afghan administration was due to take over in Kabul, "is a target date" for deployment of an international force. Details on the composition of the force and who was to lead it would probably become clear in the coming week, he said. Annan also cautioned powerful states with interests in central Asia to temper their jockeying for influence in Afghanistan, saying what the war-ravaged country required now was a goverment loyal to the Afghan people and not "to one or another of its neighbors." Stabilizing Afghanistan was a criticial task and "I believe it's going to require the involvement of the international community for a long time to come," he said. |