US President George W. Bush, backed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his staunchest ally, has warned that the Iraqi crisis would come to a head in a matter of weeks, rather than months.
For the first time, Bush broached the idea of a second UN resolution to authorize war on Iraq but made clear such a resolution although welcome, was not necessary.
Nevertheless diplomats at the UN expected Washington to push for a resolution in about two weeks, if it looked as if such a measure might be successful.
"This needs to be resolved quickly. Should the United Nations decide to pass a second resolution, it would be welcomed, if it is yet another signal that we're intent upon disarming [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein," Bush told a joint news conference after his talks with Blair on Friday.
But Bush said he would brook no delay in his quest to disarm Saddam.
"Saddam Hussein is not disarming. ... Any attempt to drag the pro-cess on for months will be resisted by the United States," he said.
Iraq, which denies US-British charges that it has weapons of mass destruction, has invited chief UN arms inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to visit before their next report to the Security Council on Feb. 14.
The inspectors' report, to be delivered at about the time US forces now pouring into the Gulf are expected to be ready to launch an invasion, is seen as a milestone in Bush's war planning.
Blair said Baghdad's invitation was part of a long-established pattern of playing for time while Bush dismissed it as a deception and a charade.
"The only way that he can show that he [Saddam] is truly a peaceful man is to not negotiate with inspectors, is not to string the inspectors along, but to disarm in front of inspectors," he said.
Blix and ElBaradei told Iraq they hoped for positive steps before making any trip to Baghdad, such as allowing spy plane overflights without conditions and private interviews with scientists, according to diplomats.
Both Bush and Blair are meeting opposition at home and in various world capitals for the idea of a pre-emptive strike against Iraq without explicit UN backing.
On Friday former president Jimmy Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said: "Our government has not made a case for a pre-emptive military strike against Iraq, either at home or in Europe."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday underlined the divisions in Europe over whether to support Washington's war plans, saying his opposition to an Iraq war was supported by an overwhelming majority in Germany and Europe.
"Military force must not be a normal means of policy, it must remain something ... that one can and must call a last resort and requires the most sensitive and careful reasoning if one has to decide to use it," Schroeder told an campaign rally in Hanover.
Germany and Francewere left isolated this week by a letter signed by eight European leaders backing the tough US stance on Iraq and urging unity.
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
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
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