[Peace-discuss] (no subject)

[patton paul]

Note that even *Kuwait* doesn't support unilateral US military action
against Iraq!
-Paul Patton

Russia Might Consider New UN Move on Iraq-Ivanov
Wed Oct 2,12:53 PM ET

By Clara Ferreira-Marques

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia signaled a slight shift toward Washington on its
Iraq policy on Wednesday, saying it would consider backing new U.N.
resolutions if arms inspectors needed them.

Photo
Reuters Photo

"If any extra resolutions are required for the effective work of the
inspectors we, of course, are ready to consider them," Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov told reporters.

Ivanov made his comments after Iraq agreed on Tuesday to re-admit the U.N.
inspectors, who left in 1998.

He said the Security Council, where Russia has a veto, could pass
additional resolutions only after it had heard a report by chief U.N.
weapons inspector Hans Blix, set for Thursday.

By leaving open the possibility of Russian support for new U.N.
resolutions, Ivanov appeared to be taking a step toward Washington's
demands for a much tougher stance toward Iraq.

OIL, ECONOMIC LINKS WITH IRAQ

On September 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin ( news - web sites),
whose country has close economic links with Iraq, said Moscow wanted the
crisis to be settled with existing U.N. agreements.

Washington wants Moscow to support a U.N. resolution that would imposed
tougher inspections and be backed by the threat of military action should
Baghdad fail to comply.

"For Ivanov, this is a way of recognizing that this resolution is
inescapable," said Alexei Malashenko, an Islamic expert at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.

"This is a very cautious, delicate hint that Russia will vote for this
resolution anyway and it will not hide this."

Russia, he said, had the uncomfortable choice of either losing face in the
Arab world, a traditional region of influence, or squandering the capital
it had built up with Washington in supporting its global war against
terror.

Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah, in Russia for
talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov, said Kuwait shared
Moscow's position and would not support any unilateral action on Iraq.

"Kuwait supports the international community's resolutions on Iraq and
does not support unilateral action against Iraq," he told reporters after
the talks.

Washington has courted support from Kuwait, Iraq's smaller neighbor, but
Sheikh Jaber has said Washington could only use the oil-rich state in a
strike on Iraq if the United Nations ( news - web sites) approved military
action. Kuwait has hosted U.S. troops since the 1991 Gulf War ( news - web
sites).

After talks with Blix and other U.N. officials in Vienna, Iraq agreed on
Tuesday to let arms inspectors back into Iraq under existing U.N.
agreements.

Secretary of State Colin Powell ( news - web sites) quickly rejected any
resumption of inspections before a new Security Council resolution is in
place.

__________________________________________________________________
Dr. Paul Patton
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Beckman Institute  Rm 3027  405 N. Mathews St.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  Urbana, Illinois 61801
work phone: (217)-265-0795   fax: (217)-244-5180
home phone: (217)-328-4064
homepage: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ppatton/index.html

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the
source of all true art and science."
-Albert Einstein
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