Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Saturday President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should heed international concerns over a military strike on Iraq.
Moussa said he still believed that a deal could be reached on the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq. "I don't believe enough consultation and exchange of views has taken place and at the same time there is a lot of concern around the world about the validity of military action at this stage," Moussa said, according to Reuters.
"The opposition is still strong. Even in Britain, parliament and parties do not agree," Moussa told reporters.
"Yes, I believe there is room for optimism that inspectors could be allowed back," he said, saying contacts over the issue were continuing with Baghdad.
He also said he expected Washington would hold back from any attack on Iraq if the inspectors returned. "I believe the U.S. will agree once a deal is made for inspectors to go back. I believe the U.S. will be on board."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview published on Saturday that Washington's goal in Iraq is disarmament and a combination of arms inspections and "regime change" could be the way to achieve it.
Powell told the Paris daily Le Monde that returning the weapons inspectors who left in 1998 was not an end in itself.
"The goal is disarmament," he said, according to the French text of the interview. "If the inspectors play a role in disarmament, all the better, but we should not lose sight of the fact that the problem is disarmament.
"The inspectors are a means to that end. Driving out this regime is another way to do it. There may be a possible combination of several means to reach this goal."
Powell said the world should be scandalized by the way Iraq has violated United Nations resolutions on arms inspection and continued to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
"How far have they gone?" he asked. "We should share the intelligence we have so that people can make their own opinion."
But he added: "The burden of proof does not lie with the United States. Iraq should show the world it intends to be a civilised country and not a rogue state led by a rogue."
(Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
