Transatlantic Row Over Iraq Widening

13/02/2003| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: || Military Build up & Anglo American Raids against Iraqi Targets Continue|| A US-Sponsored Second UN Resolution on Iraq is Being Debated With France informally Presenting Alternative Resolution|| EU Trio Again Block NATO Compromise Over Turkey|| American-European Discord Extended to Include Latest Bin Laden Tape|| Washington Still Interested in a Proposed Saddam-Asylum Scenario|| STORYSpain said it would work with Washington to build support for a resolution authorizing force against Iraq as other key European allies rejected a NATO compromise to bolster Turkish defenses and dismissed U.S. claims of a Baghdad-al Qaeda alliance.

President Bush secured a promise from Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on Wednesday to work with the United Nations on a resolution. Spain, a member of the U.N. Security Council, is an important ally for Washington as it seeks to sway a divided Europe to back force against Iraq.

Military Build Up & Anglo-American Air Raids Continue

The United States, threatening to attack Iraq for failing to destroy alleged weapons of mass destruction, pressed ahead with its war planning, calling up nearly 39,000 additional reserve troops. Washington now has more than 150,000 Reserve and National Guard forces on duty, the largest number since the last Gulf War.

Also on Wednesday, aircraft taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked a ballistic missile system in southern Iraq for the second consecutive day, the U.S. military said. The truck-borne Ababil-100 surface-to-surface missile system includes a launcher, radar and support vehicles.

The developments came as missile experts consulted by U.N. arms inspectors determined that Iraq possesses a missile system that violates U.N. resolutions. The experts found the Al Samoud 2 missile has a range greater than that allowed and recommended the engines be destroyed, a diplomat said.

The findings came ahead of Friday's key Security Council meeting at which chief U.N. inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei are to report back on their disarmament efforts. Officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell would return to the United Nations on Friday to attend the meeting.

Second Resolution Debated as EU Trio Again Blocks NATO Compromise over Turkey

Washington said talks were underway on the language of the new resolution on Iraq. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, indicating the White House expects the process to move quickly, told reporters the measure would have to enforce the terms of the U.N. resolution adopted in November demanding Iraq comply with disarmament demands or face "serious consequences."

Meanwhile, France, Germany and Belgium shot down a compromise on Wednesday aimed at breaking NATO's deadlock over plans to protect Turkey in case of a U.S.-led war on Iraq.

The European trio, fierce critics of any rush to military action, refused to budge at least until after the U.N. weapons inspectors report to the Security Council. Turkey is NATO's only Muslim member country.

NATO has been debating plans to deploy Patriot air defense missiles, early warning planes and special anti-chemical and germ warfare teams to Turkey. Turkey, which shares a frontier with Iraq and is a likely launch pad for any U.S. attack, is anxious for NATO to start planning for its defense.

But France, Germany and Belgium argue that starting defense planning now would lock NATO into a "logic of war," implicitly accepting that an armed conflict against Iraq is inevitable. A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Paris flagged France's disdain for the compromise plan even before the NATO envoys met.

"In this regard, we cannot, through a NATO decision, give our support in principle to a military intervention in Iraq and thus preempt the decisions of the Security Council," he said.

Disagreement Extended to Cover Bin Laden's Tape

A public disagreement also flared between Germany and the United States over whether a purported bin Laden audiotape broadcast on Tuesday was proof of what White House spokesman Ari Fleischer described as an "unholy partnership" between Iraq and bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

The United States blames the elusive bin Laden for the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

The bin Laden tape aired by the al-Jazeera cable television network urged Iraqis to repel any U.S.-led invasion and said any Arab ruler who supported the U.S. effort was an "apostate whose blood should be spilled."

U.S. Claims Unholy Alliance Between Baghdad & Al-Qaeda

The United States has said one of the main reasons for disarming Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, by force if necessary, was the possibility that Baghdad would provide terror groups with biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.

But Germany rejected the U.S. assertion that the bin Laden tape proved an alliance with Iraq. "From what is known so far we don't think we can conclude that there is evidence of an axis or close link," said government spokesman Thomas Steg.

Baghdad, which rejects allegations it is concealing weapons of mass destruction, has repeatedly denied any connection to al Qaeda. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency, said on Wednesday:

"America is working on dragging the world toward a great catastrophe by insisting on launching an unjust aggression on Iraq."

Washington Still Interested in a Saddam-Asylum Scenario

Powell, testifying to Congress, told lawmakers the United States is still discussing asylum for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with a number of nations and the United Nations might need to play a role to "entice him" to take it.

Powell told lawmakers the United States was studying how asylum might be arranged for Saddam and his top lieutenants, including "where, with what protection ... how exactly you would operationalize this."

"We are not only discussing it, we are in touch with a number of countries that have expressed an interest in conveying this message to the Iraqi regime that time's up and one way to avoid a lot of suffering is for the regime to step down -- Saddam Hussein and his cohorts," Powell said.

Iraqi officials have rejected the idea that Saddam might accept asylum and step down.

PHOTO CAPTION

Secretary of State Colin Powell testifies before the House International Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, February 12, 2003. (Mike Theile