Annan warns Bush against unilateral attack on Iraq

10.45am

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned the United States against attacking Iraq on its own, arguing collective action under a UN umbrella would have greater legitimacy and better odds of success.

In an address marking the 310th anniversary of William and Mary College, Annan also stressed that force should be used only as a last resort.

But if the UN Security Council concludes, after a key report by UN inspectors due on Friday, that Iraq is not disarming as required by council resolutions, "the council must face up to its responsibilities," he said.

"This is an issue not for any one state alone, but for the international community as a whole," Annan said. "When states decide to use force, not in self-defence but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations Security Council," he said.

"When there is strong US leadership, exercised through patient diplomatic persuasion and coalition-building, the United Nations is successful -- and the United States is successful," he said. "The United Nations is most useful to all its members, including the United States, when it is united and works as a source of collective action rather than discord," he said.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the college's chancellor, also endorsed UN diplomacy as the appropriate approach to the crisis in Iraq in brief remarks.

As the two men spoke, some two dozen people outside the hall staged a peaceful protest against war on Iraq.

President Bush has warned Baghdad that time is running out for it to disarm on its own and is sending troops and equipment to the region in preparation for a possible war.

The US administration has argued it needs no further action by the Security Council to disarm Iraq by force under Resolution 1441 adopted on November 8 and other resolutions.

But Bush has left open the door to an additional council measure authorising military action, although it is far from clear at this time that such a measure could garner the necessary nine votes and no vetoes in the 15-nation council to be adopted.

France, in particular, has warned repeatedly that force should be used only after all possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the crisis have been exhausted, and has made clear its view that that point has not yet been reached.


Annan warned that war "is always a human catastrophe" and said the entire international community -- including "first and foremost the leaders of Iraq itself -- have a duty to prevent this if we possibly can."


He said Secretary of State Colin Powell had made a "strong" presentation to the council last Wednesday on Iraqi arms programs that had "undoubtedly strengthened" the hand of chief inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei as they once again this weekend pressed Baghdad to more fully cooperate with their efforts.

But if Iraq "fails to make use of this last chance, and continues its defiance, the council ... must face up to its responsibilities," he said.

"Our (UN) founders were not pacifists. They knew there would be times when force must be met by force," he said.

As Annan wrapped up his speech, a heckler jumped to his feet to ask Annan why the United Nations was not pressing Israel to disarm as forcefully as it was Baghdad. But his remarks were drowned out by applause.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq