| Submit your comments on this article |
| Axis of Evil |
| Appeasers to send Saddam a Valentine |
| 2003-01-23 |
| GERMANY will use its power as incoming president of the UN Security Council to try to head off war with Iraq by asking the chief weapons inspectors to report twice in three weeks, The Times has learnt. The surprise German effort to buy time appeared to be aimed at defusing the tension that is building around the chief inspector’s public report to the 15-nation council on Monday. Germany fears that President Bush could use Hans Blix’s report — and his own State of the Union speech on Tuesday — as a trigger for war. It is therefore proposing bringing the inspectors back for a second assessment on February 14, having invited them to Berlin beforehand. Berlin’s diplomatic move was launched as the allies’ simmering dispute over Iraq exploded into a heated row. The French and German leaders vowed to use all their influence to stop the war, while Washington and London fumed that efforts to disarm President Saddam Hussein were being undermined at a critical stage. Behind the scenes ministers on both sides were involved in angry exchanges. |
| Posted by:Bent Pyramid |