British Prime Minister Tony Blair planned to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington later this month to discuss Iraq, sources said on Saturday, as Britain's top warship headed for the Gulf.
The two leaders would meet after UN arms inspectors report to the UN Security Council on Jan. 27 on Iraq's compliance with their searches for weapons of mass destruction, said the sources, who were familiar with US-British planning.
A spokeswoman for Blair's office would not confirm the trip.
British newspapers reported earlier that Blair was expected to meet both Bush and chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix in an effort to prevent an early war against Iraq becoming inevitable.
The Times said Blair would underscore his belief that the inspectors should be given "time and space" to deal with Iraq, but the two leaders could end up holding a "council of war" if Baghdad failed to give Blix answers to key questions.
An early edition of the Sunday Observer newspaper quoted unidentified officials from Blair's office as saying military action against Iraq was "more likely than not."
Asked about the Observer report, Blair's spokeswoman said: "We are saying that military action is not inevitable, but it is up to [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein how [disarmament] happens and whether it is done in conjunction with the United Nations or by absolute force."
Britain and the US say they have intelligence that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction and have threatened war if it fails to come clean. Iraq says it does not have such arms.
UN inspectors told the Security Council this week they had found no smoking guns in their searches in Iraq so far, but many questions still had to be answered by the Iraqis.
The flagship of Britain's navy, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, set sail on Saturday, heading the largest British seaborne force since the 1982 Falklands War.
The Ark Royal will lead a fleet of 16 ships, with 5,000 sailors and 3,000 marines.
Thousands of flag-waving relatives and well-wishers packed the quay for an emotional farewell as the carrier left England's southern Portsmouth harbor in chilly sunshine.
"I'm proud of him but still wish he wasn't in there," Felicity Devine said of her 26-year-old son Brad on the Ark Royal. "I know that God is in control and he'll be in my prayers," she said.
The Ark Royal's fleet is officially sailing for long-planned naval exercises in the Far East, but officials say they have strengthened the force in case it is needed for war against Iraq.
Public opinion in Britain is still lukewarm at best toward the prospect of war against Iraq, and the government has been cautious about announcing deployment plans. But since the start of the year Britain has begun deploying the bulk of the forces it would send for a war.
Several hundred anti-war activists met in London to voice opposition to military action in the Gulf.
The Stop The War Coalition, which organized Saturday's meeting, said about half a million protesters would gather in London on Feb. 15, together with 10 million across the rest of the world, in what could be the world's largest political demonstration.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique