UK signals support for missile plan

LONDON, England -- Britain is offering tentative support for the United States' proposal to build a national missile defence system.

But Prime Minister Tony Blair said the system must meet concerns from Europe and China about the maintenance of anti-ballistic missile treaties which have put a brake on the arms race for more than 20 years.

U.S. President George W. Bush has sparked international concern by insisting on pushing ahead with the National Missile Defence (NMD) scheme to create a "missile shield."

He believes the shield is necessary to protect the U.S. from attacks by "rogue states" such as North Korea, Iran or Iraq.

"This is definitely in the box marked 'handle with care' on all sides," Blair told the latest edition of Forbes magazine.

"It is a very sensitive issue. My own judgment is that provided we handle it with care, there is a way through which meets America's objectives and other people's concerns."

He was speaking as a senior Russian general revealed that Moscow is preparing a missile shield for Europe.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, head of the Defence Ministry's international co-operation department, said the proposal would easily beat NMD, which Russia says could drain Europe financially.

"It may be a special, mobile, non-strategic anti-missile force," Ivashov told a news conference.

He said the scheme involved a thorough assessment of existing and future missile threats and, if such were detected, a joint international effort to counteract them through political and other non-military means.

Only in the final resort would mobile anti-missile forces be deployed near a potential aggressor, he said.

Blair said he believed that the Bush administration was "sensitive" to foreign worries about the proposals and would discuss the issue with other states in a "serious and sensible" way.

He travels to Washington to meet Bush next week and the two are expected to discuss the new president's decision to deploy a limited ballistic missile defence shield.

A key part of the scheme -- nicknamed Son of Star Wars -- is thought to depend on the upgrading of the UK's Fylingdales early warning base in North Yorkshire, which critics say would make Britain a prime target for anyone wanting to strike the U.S.

Blair has so far refused to say whether he would agree to the use of British sites for NMD, insisting that it would be wrong to do so before any request has been received from the U.S.

Critics believe the missile shield would spell an end to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, and some European leaders agree with Russian warnings that it could start a new arms race.

Russia has said that if the U.S. were to withdraw from the ABM treaty, Moscow would feel compelled to abandon agreements that limit numbers of long-range nuclear weapons.

China also views plans for a U.S. missile shield as a threat to its security.

Earlier this month, Germany urged Bush's new administration to be cautious in developing the plan.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Europe and the U.S. should talk before any action is taken.

Schroeder said: "We should look for joint answers to the existing and new threats to security."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Russia issues missile defence warning
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Germany urges caution on missile shield
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Russia plans U.S. missile talks
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British MPs question 'destabilizing' U.S. missile plan
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10 Downing Street
Russian Defence Ministry (in Russian)
U.S. Department of Defense
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Forbes Magazine
Ministry of Defence

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