Howard echoes allied stance on Iraq

By GREG ANSLEY Australia correspondent

CANBERRA - Australia yesterday clearly indicated it would continue to follow United States President George W. Bush's uncompromising stance on Iraq, despite Baghdad's decision to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country.

Echoing the cynicism expressed in the US and by Britain - Washington's other key Gulf ally - Prime Minister John Howard warned Iraq that any bid to delay or block complete, unfettered access by weapons inspectors would not be tolerated.

"Iraq must now move very quickly to fulfil its obligations," he told Parliament yesterday.

"The international community won't accept further delays or obstruction of UN weapons inspectors.

"The Iraqi Government should have no illusions."

Defence Minister Robert Hill said this week that Australia could join a US-led attack on Iraq even without a UN mandate.

Opposition Leader Simon Crean said any move against Iraq could be taken only within the legal framework of the UN charter, requiring a new Security Council resolution, and that Canberra must not play politics with Australian lives.

Although avoiding comment on any potential military involvement by Australia, during yesterday's parliamentary debate Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer were openly suspicious of Iraq's renewed acceptance of weapons inspectors.

"Given Iraq's history of misrepresentation, of pretending to do one thing yet doing another, I believe the world should welcome this development with a great deal of caution and a great deal of reserve - even with a touch of scepticism, given what has happened in the past," Howard said.

He said that although Australia was pleased Baghdad had agreed to start immediate discussions on the practical arrangements for the return of the weapons inspectors, the conditions were not open to negotiation.

"They have been comprehensively set down in UN resolutions," he said.

Downer, advocating a continued hard line, said Australia was not immune from the threats posed by irrational actors and new and devastating categories of weapons.

He did not disclose new intelligence to support Canberra's continued claims that Baghdad has continued to produce new stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and to develop a nuclear capability, since UN inspectors were expelled from Iraq in 1998.

But he reported UN findings that thousands of chemical and biological weapons remained unaccounted for when the inspectors left, and that Iraq still possessed a residual long-range missile capability, chemical munitions, and the capability of producing more chemical and biological armaments.

Downer said Australian intelligence agencies had reported that Iraq continued to produce equipment, material and technology that could assist its programme of weapons of mass destruction.

Further reading
Feature: War with Iraq

Iraq links and resources