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Blair: 'Final chance' for Saddam
LONDON, England -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will have "one further final chance" before facing serious consequences, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday. In an address to the House of Commons, Blair said a vote on a new U.N. Security Council resolution would be delayed to give Iraq a last opportunity to disarm voluntarily. But he dismissed a French-German-Russian plan that called for more time for weapons inspections. Meanwhile on Tuesday, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations said he expected Washington and London to decide by the end of March whether or not to declare war on Iraq. Speaking to British radio, Sir Jeremy Greenstock said the only way to avoid war was for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to "feel the heat" and comply with U.N. demands on disarmament. Asked how long diplomats could continue to discuss ultimatums and deadlines for Iraq to disarm, Greenstock said: "I think everybody who thought that this would go all the way through March would be seriously miscalculating. "I believe that it is a very low number of weeks that we now have for discussion before the hard decisions have to be made." The prime minister told MPs that U.N. weapons inspectors would continue their work, but he added: "This time Saddam must understand. And now is the time for him to decide -- passive rather than active cooperation will not do." Many senior figures in Blair's ruling Labour party and backbench MPs have expressed opposition to war but will not get the chance to vote on whether Britain should join a U.S.-led campaign in Iraq. Blair's address came a day after the UK put its name to a second U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would confirm Baghdad has not fulfilled its obligations under resolution 1441 to disarm and cooperate with weapons inspectors. (Rival proposals) He said: "Resolution 1441 called for full, unconditional immediate compliance. Anything less will not do. "We are prepared to go the extra step to disarm Iraq peacefully but it cannot happen without Saddam's active cooperation. "If he refuses to cooperate and we fail to act, what then? It would not be the road to peace but a failure and only mean that when conflict does come it will be more bloody and less certain." As the prime minister was outlining his case, Turkey was deciding whether to allow U.S. troops onto its soil for a possible second front in an Iraq war. (Turkish front) The House of Commons will vote on the issue Wednesday and dozens of Labour rebels are expected to back an amendment to the government motion, arguing that the case for military action is "as yet unproven." However, Blair is not thought to be in any danger because of his large majority.
The prime minister has been attempting to portray himself as a reluctant warrior during meetings with the pope and religious leaders in Britain, saying the path to war or peace will ultimately be decided by Saddam. Blair told the Commons: "I know the innocent as well as the guilty die in any war, but let us not forget those who die in Iraq because of Saddam Hussein. "The innocent die every day in Iraq as victims of Saddam." Despite his staunch support for U.S. policy on Iraq, Blair has been hounded at home by anti-war MPs, and more than 750,000 people joined a peace march in February echoing public opinion. Opinion polls indicate most Britons would be opposed to war without a second U.N. resolution.
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The innocent die every day in Iraq as victims of Saddam.
