Australia said on Tuesday that a report on Iraq by the United Nations weapons inspectors was blacker than expected.
Prime Minister John Howard said "It's very clear that this report was even more critical of Iraq than many people expected." Howard said it was now for the UN Security Council to assess the report and carefully address its obligations under a resolution calling for Iraq to disarm.
Howard reaffirmed his view that the weapons inspectors should be given more time to complete their task. However, the time they were given should not be unlimited.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said it was "very disappointing" there had been so little cooperation from Iraq towards the U.N. inspectors searching for evidence that Baghdad still has weapons of mass destruction.
"This report is a very damning document..it's blacker than I had expected," Downer told Australian radio. "Obviously this does change the environment unfortunately in an extremely negative way very substantially."
In New Zealand, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Tuesday war is now "far more likely than not," but New Zealand is unlikely to change its stance against becoming directly involved. Clark added she believed most UN members wanted the inspectors to be allowed more time but told National Radio: "The question is how much will be settled for." (Albawaba.com)
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