UK's Straw to Tour Mideast to Seek Support on Iraq

06/10/2002| IslamWeb

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will make a whistle-stop trip to Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt this week to try to gather support for possible action against Iraq, officials said Sunday. The Iran leg of the trip had been previously made public but only Sunday were Straw's other destinations confirmed by the British government.

Britain has refused to rule out acting with the United States against Iraq without explicit backing from the United Nations if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein does not respond to U.N. demands to disarm.

Straw has backed Washington's lobbying of members of the U.N. Security Council to support a tougher U.N. resolution to allow for military action against Iraq if it does not give up weapons of mass destruction that Washington suspects Iraq has.

Jordanian officials in Amman said Straw was expected to speak with King Abdullah and senior officials Tuesday before heading to Kuwait on his four-nation tour to lobby for a new UN resolution.

"The discussions will mainly touch on Iraq but will also discuss the Palestinian-Israeli issue," a Jordanian official told Reuters.

Jordan, a U.S. ally but a key trading partner of Iraq, has gradually distanced itself from unequivocal support for Baghdad.

Speaking on BBC Radio, Straw said the international community's efforts were focused on disarming Saddam, not overthrowing him.

But he added: "Both the Prime Minister (Tony Blair ) and I and leaders of the American administration have made clear that we would wish to see the back of the Saddam Hussein regime.

"So too would everybody in the region and above all the Iraqi people."

Iraq must comply with U.N. disarmament demands to remove any pretext for a U.S. led attack on Baghdad, Jordan has said.

"We have urged Iraq to comply with any resolution that comes out of the United Nations, and we will continue to advise the Iraqi government of that need," Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan al-Muasher said Thursday in Geneva.

Straw said each of the nations he would visit had reason to wish Saddam no good.

"Each of these countries has reason to fear Saddam. Three of them -- Jordan, Kuwait and Iran -- have been the subject of military action by Saddam," he said.

"Egypt is also worried about the long-term instability caused to the region and the way in which Iraq helps the underdevelopment of the Arab region."

PHOTO CAPTION

Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, left, looks on as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw delivers his speech to delegates at the Labour Party annual conference, held in Blackpool, England, Monday, Sept. 30, 2002. (AP Photo/Richard Lewis)
- Oct 01 3:10 AM ET