Blair rejects latest Iraq plan

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday dismissed a Franco-German plan for peaceful disarmament of Iraq, saying it was absurd to think UN inspectors could find lethal weapons without Baghdad’s full co-operation.

“They are not a detective agency and even if they were Iraq is a country with a landmass roughly the size of France.”

Britain and the US have sought UN authorisation for war on Iraq by producing a new resolution declaring Baghdad had squandered its final opportunity to disarm. France and Germany, backed by Russia, quickly circulated a rival proposal that would extend and beef up UN inspections for at least four months.