No war if Saddam makes right move

The Iraqi crisis in Iraq could end without war if Saddam Hussein chooses the right moves, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in Malaysia today.

Winding up a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia with discussions about Iraq high on his agenda, he said Britain wanted to “see the issue of Iraq resolved peacefully.”

But Mr Straw added that Iraq had been in violation of UN Security Council resolutions for more than a decade.

“We believe ... active diplomacy has to be backed by credible threat of force,” Mr Straw said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, where he met Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and other senior Malaysian officials.