The US would be acting illegally in attacking Iraq and attempting to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the foreign ministers of France, Russia and Germany told the UN Security Council.
Hours before the US-led coalition launched a cruise missile and precision bomb strike against Iraq, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the Security Council on Wednesday that no UN resolution authorized military action or "the violent overthrow of the leadership of a sovereign state."
There are also "no indisputable facts" to demonstrate that Iraq threatens the US, he said. If there were, the administration of US President George W. Bush could exercise its right under the UN Charter to respond in self-defense.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The foreign ministers of Russia, France and Germany attended an open council meeting held before the clock ran out on a Wednesday evening deadline set by Bush for Saddam to leave Iraq or face war.
Though the Bush administration has said the time for diplomacy was over, the ministers made a point of reaffirming their opposition to war and asserting the primacy of the UN.
Declaring that military intervention "has no credibility," Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also stressed, "There is no basis in the UN Charter for a regime change with military means."
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin reiterated his country's contention that a war would not only be illegal but would exacerbate the tensions and divisions on which "terrorists feed."
"To those who think that the scourge of terrorism will be eradicated through what is done in Iraq, we say that they run the risk of failing in their objective," he said.
"An outbreak of force in such an unstable area can only exacerbate the tensions and fractures on which terrorists feed."
His Russian counterpart said no UN Security Council resolution authorized the use of force against Iraq outside the UN charter, and "not one of them authorizes the violent overthrow of the leadership of a sovereign state."
Ivanov said if there were a great threat to the security of the US "then Russia, without any hesitation would use all the means available provided under the UN charter to eliminate such a threat."
"However, the Security Council today is not in possession of such facts," Ivanov said, in a reference to the Bush administration's linkage of terrorism to the Baghdad government.
The three ministers did not say they would raise the issue in the council after the war began.
They insisted the UN Security Council would have a role in the aftermath of war.
Iraq's UN Ambassador Moham-med Al-Douri said he was planning on submitting a letter, possibly yesterday, to the UN condemning the attack on his country.
Al-Douri called the military action "a breach of peace" and "a violation of international law."
"It seems that the war of aggression against my country has started," he told reporters outside the Iraqi mission Wednesday night.
Predicting "imminent disaster" for the people of Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan implored the US and its allies Wednesday not to forsake humanitarian aid when the fighting starts.
"This is a sad day for the United Nations," Annan said. "I know that millions of people around the world share this sense of disappointment and are deeply alarmed."
He said he plans to submit proposals to the council shortly on adjusting the UN oil-for-food program, which was providing food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies for about 60 percent of Iraq's 22 million people until it was suspended this week.
The council meeting was called to hear a report by chief UN inspector Hans Blix outlining a dozen issues that Iraq needed to resolve to prove it was disarming peacefully.
With war looming, the session took place in an atmosphere of sadness and defiance, with many members determined not to be sidelined by the conflict. To show its importance, the foreign ministers of Syria and Guinea also attended.
By contrast, the US, Britain and Spain were among the 10 countries represented by their ambassadors. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had no intention of coming to New York and US officials made a point of downplaying the meeting's importance.
In a short speech, US Ambassador John Negroponte reiterated that the US believes Saddam had failed to cooperate with UN inspectors and called Blix's program "quite simply out of touch with the reality that we confront."
He said the US and others were preparing a draft resolution that would ensure the continuity of the oil-for-food program, and expressed hope it would be adopted quickly to minimize any interruption of humanitarian assistance.
In looking ahead to a UN role as the Iraq conflict unfolds, Ivanov made clear that there cannot be a political settlement in the country without the Security Council.
"The United Nations has never been so necessary," said de Villepin, whose speech was greeted with applause in the council chamber, as were his two previous presentations against US military action.
But as the meeting broke up, the mood was tense.
"It's a tragedy," said Chile's UN Ambassador Gabriel Valdes.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS