US: The United States is ready to strike Iraq and disarm it without UN Security Council authorisation "if necessary", but prefers a "multilateral" approach, US Ambassador David Welch has said.
"The United States is ready to launch a unilateral war against Iraq if necessary and without recourse to the UN Security Council" for an authorisation to use force, Mr Welch told the official news agency MENA.
"The United States is completely ready to work to force the Iraqi regime to apply UN resolutions, notably resolution 1441," he added, in the interview published in Arabic. But he added that Washington preferred "collective multilateral work". The US embassy did not publish a transcript of the interview.
Despite opposition to a US-led war shown by fellow Security Council members France, Russia and China, Mr Welch said he was confident these parties would "adopt a resolution \ a strike against Iraq if necessary".
US President George W. Bush "has not yet taken a final decision to launch a strike against Iraq", but Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "has no choice except to comply with UN resolutions and respond to the demands of international inspectors or to prepare for military action" against his country, Mr Welch said.
The ambassador would not comment on whether any military operations were planned against other Arab countries accused of supporting terrorism, saying "nothing has been decided" on this issue.
On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr Welch said the US was "determined to bring an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories with the help of friendly countries, notably Egypt".
He added a revised and final version of a Middle East peace "road map" drawn up by top EU, US, Russian and UN officials had been handed to some Arab capitals. He said he had given a copy of the plan to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher last week, and added that the initial reactions to it by Arab countries had been positive.
"Some modifications could be included [in the plan\] if needed to draw the perspectives of various parties closer together." The "road map" calls for the creation of a Palestinian state with definitive borders by 2005, a halt to Palestinian attacks and a freeze on Israeli settlement activities.
Meanwhile, the US has sent the first of what is expected to be a 1,000-strong force to Israel to bolster its defences against missile attacks in the event of a war in Iraq.
The soldiers and a number of Patriot missile batteries are being sent in the light of Ariel Sharon's threat to retaliate if Israel is attacked with chemical or biological weapons.
President Bush has tried to prevent Israel embroiling itself in a conflict by assuring Mr Sharon that there will be no repetition of Iraq's ability in the 1991 Gulf war to launch 39 missiles against Israel, killing two people, injuring 200 and spreading considerable panic. But the Israelis are taking precautions, including mass vaccination against smallpox, simulated chemical attacks and air-raid drills in schools.
"We have taken all the measures necessary to protect the population of Israel," Mr Sharon said on state television. "We are ready and prepared for every eventuality. If Israel is attacked, it will know how to protect its citizens."
Officially, the US troops are in Israel for an exercise called Jennifer Cobra, to integrate the Patriots with a new Israeli missile system, the Arrow. The exercise begins next week and is due to last a fortnight.
- (AFP, Guardian Service)