Straw attacks Franco-German proposals

BRITISH Foreign Secretary Jack Straw last night launched a withering attack on France and Germany’s call for more weapons inspectors in Iraq, describing it as a “recipe for procrastination and delay”.

As the bitter dispute within the Nato alliance over the Iraqi crisis continued to deepen, he said the reported Franco-German plan which also includes the deployment of UN troops was "simply not feasible".

He warned that the block by France, Germany and Belgium on the dispatch of Nato missile batteries to defend Turkey in the event of war risked "eroding" and "undermining" the Western alliance.

He also said if chief UN inspector Hans Blix reported Iraq was still in "material breach" of its obligations to disarm when he briefed the Security Council on Friday, the case for a new resolution authorising force would be "overwhelming".

Mr Straw's uncompromising comments, in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, left the divisions at the heart of Nato more exposed than ever.

The Americans have made no secret of their fury at the tactics of France and Germany, who have been leading the opposition to war within the EU and the Security Council.

Up to now, however, Britain has been at pains to avoid inflaming the dispute apparently in the hope that agreement could be reached on a fresh Security Council resolution.

Mr Straw's speech suggested that the British government may have moved a step closer to accepting that Britain and the US will have to take action without the sanction of a specific UN mandate.

Such a move would be highly risky for Tony Blair, who knows that he could struggle to command public support and would face a devastating split in the ranks of the Labour Party.

Mr Straw could scarcely have been more dismissive of the Franco-German plan, referring to it as "proposals doing the rounds on the continent".

He said the suggestions for armed UN troops to assist the inspectors and the extension of the "no-fly" zone to the whole of Iraq had already been considered and dismissed by the Security Council as unworkable.

"Nothing in Saddam's performance can give any confidence that any of these proposals would in any way change his behaviour. Instead they are a recipe for procrastination and for delay," he said.

He stressed that the job of the inspectors was to verify Iraqi compliance with UN demands, not to act as a "detective agency tasked with securing Iraqi disarmament via a combination of ingenuity and strong-arm tactics".

He said that the only guarantee that Iraq had finally given up its weapons would be if the regime co-operated fully with the inspectors.

"If Saddam bows to the UN's demands and co-operates promptly, what is the need for greater numbers of inspectors? But if he maintains his refusal to co-operate, how will higher numbers help?"