US President George W. Bush vowed to "deal with" Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and called on Washington's Middle Eastern allies to "work in concert to confront this danger."
"He is a problem, and we're going to deal with him. But the first stage is to consult with our allies and friends, and that's exactly what we're doing," he told reporters amid concerns that Washington may take unilateral action.
While not explicitly addressing that worry, Bush warned that "all options are on the table" and stressed that "one thing I will not allow is a nation such as Iraq to threaten our very future by developing weapons of mass destruction."
The US leader's comments came as Vice President Dick Cheney toured the Middle East to drum up support for expanding the US-led "war on terrorism" beyond military action in Afghanistan -- and possibly to Iraq, reported AFP.
"What the vice president is doing, is he's reminding people about this danger and that we need to work in concert to confront this danger," Bush explained during a wide-ranging news conference at the White House.
US officials, however, have insisted that no military action is imminent. "I am deeply concerned about Iraq," said Bush. Iraq "is a nation run by a man who is willingly to kill his own people by using chemical weapons; a man who won't let inspectors into the country; a man who's obviously got something to hide," he added.
Meanwhile, Lebanon backed Iraq on Wednesday, joining Syria and Jordan in rallying behind Baghdad in a standoff with the United States, which has vowed to oust Saddam Hussein’s regime by force.
Beirut’s stand was conveyed to the vice-president of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council, Izzat Ibrahim Douri, during talks with top officials. Douri’s visit, however, raised the concerns of Washington, whose ambassador to Lebanon, Vincent Battle, requested an urgent meeting in the evening with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and another one with Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud on Thursday, reported the Lebanese Daily Star.
Lebanon was the third stop of a four-nation Arab tour, coinciding with US Vice-President Dick Cheney’s own tour of the region. Douri will head the Iraqi delegation in the March 27-28 Arab Summit in Beirut.
The Lebanese president said in the meeting with the Iraqi envoy that any aggression against an Arab state would weaken the nation as a whole and reaffirmed that the Arabs sought a permanent, just and comprehensive peace.
Meanwhile, political sources said Douri, in his meetings with Lahoud and Hariri, communicated Saddam’s vision for Lebanese-Syrian-Iraqi solidarity, which he said would serve the interests of all three countries and those of the Arab nation at large, particularly given that Iraq has reached “a point of no return” in its negotiations with the UN about the return of arms inspectors to Baghdad.
Also on the list of Iraq’s priorities was the support of the Palestinian Intifada, even if Palestinian-Israeli negotiations resumed. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
