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Independent verification needed of WMD in Iraq: Blair
London, Apr 24: The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq needs some form of independent verification, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.
London, Apr 24: The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq needs some form of independent verification, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.
"We are beginning the whole process of trying to identify the possible sites of such weapons," Blair said at a press conference yesterday following talks in London with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
"I've no doubt at all that we need some independent verification of that process. Exactly how that is done, as I have said before, should be discussed with the United Nations and with other key allies," Blair said. On Monday Marc Grossman, US Under Secretary of State for political affairs, said that it was "hardly realistic" to let UN inspectors go back into Iraq.
Blair did not specify whether the verification he wanted should be carried out by the UN. Britain was the United States' chief ally in the March 20 invasion of Iraq, which followed a renewed attempt by UN arms inspectors to determine the scope of deposed leader Saddam Hussein's arsenals.
No Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have yet been unearthed. The US and Britain claimed Iraq's alleged possession of such arms as the principal justification for the war against Saddam's regime.
Blair also told the London news conference that UN sanctions against Iraq should be lifted "as soon as possible". He refused to intervene in the strained relations between the US and France, which led opposition to the Iraq war.
Bureau Report
"I've no doubt at all that we need some independent verification of that process. Exactly how that is done, as I have said before, should be discussed with the United Nations and with other key allies," Blair said. On Monday Marc Grossman, US Under Secretary of State for political affairs, said that it was "hardly realistic" to let UN inspectors go back into Iraq.
Blair did not specify whether the verification he wanted should be carried out by the UN. Britain was the United States' chief ally in the March 20 invasion of Iraq, which followed a renewed attempt by UN arms inspectors to determine the scope of deposed leader Saddam Hussein's arsenals.
No Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have yet been unearthed. The US and Britain claimed Iraq's alleged possession of such arms as the principal justification for the war against Saddam's regime.
Blair also told the London news conference that UN sanctions against Iraq should be lifted "as soon as possible". He refused to intervene in the strained relations between the US and France, which led opposition to the Iraq war.
Bureau Report