The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has threatened military action to topple Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's "brutal" regime. Blair warned Saddam he had to allow weapons inspectors into his country when the international community demanded.
The Prime Minister's toughest talk yet on Iraq came in a speech in Texas, after two days of talks with U.S. President George W Bush.
Blair said: "The regime of Saddam is detestable, brutal, repressive, and political opponents are routinely tortured and executed." "We must be prepared to act where terrorism or weapons of mass destruction threaten us. "The fight against international terrorism is right. If necessary the action should be military," he added.
But senior politicians and Labour MPs warned Blair against supporting America in an attack on the Middle East state.
Tam Dalyell, Labour MP and Father of the House of Commons, said: "None of Iraq's neighbours want bombing, let alone all-out war. "Our best friend in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Jordan, says it would be a catastrophe. "The Saudis are not prepared to provide bases.
"The Gulf states are exceedingly apprehensive, to put it at its mildest, and are opposed."
Meanwhile, in spite of mounting international pressure, Iraq is still rejecting to allow international weapon inspectors to enter that country, according to a German weekly magazine, cited by KUNA.
The German Fox, issued in Munich every Monday, quoted Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz, as saying that Baghdad would not allow an international inspection team to enter the country. He justified this by saying, "the previous inspection team did not deliver the final report yet".
In addition, Aziz accused the United States and Britain of "seeking to topple the government for long time" and added, "under these circumstances, no one should expect from Iraq to allow the return of inspectors".
On the issue of a possible US attack on Iraq, Aziz said that the worst could happen and added, “we are ready for that". (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
