Cowen calls for diplomacy in solving Iraq crisis

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, insisted today that diplomatic means offer the best hope of resolving the crisis over Iraq.

He added, however, that there was no doubt that Iraq was willing to use weapons of mass destruction, and that Ireland shared the view that Iraq posed a potential threat to security.

He siad the "root cause" of the crisis is the aggressiveness of the current regime.

"This aggressiveness has manifested itself in repression at home and attacks against its neighbours abroad.

"Ireland shares the growing international consensus that the Iraqi regime poses a potential threat to regional security. Iraq has so far consistently failed to meet its obligations under international law and the relevant Security Council Resolutions," he said in a statement to the Dáil.

"Nevertheless we continue to believe that diplomatic means offer the best hope of resolving the crisis.

"In that respect we welcome President Bush's assurance on Monday that he is willing to make another effort to find a solution through diplomacy. We will strongly encourage this.

"In our view, every possible effort should be made to avoid the use of military force."

Mr Cowen called on the Iraqi government to increase its interaction with UN arms inspectors.

"We look forward to the earliest possible agreement on the return of the inspectors and the speedy commencement of work," he said.

"Ireland wants very much to see a peaceful solution to this crisis. We are working together with the other members of the Security Council to accomplish this objective.

"This goal is the overwhelming wish of the international community. The purpose of the UN Resolutions is to bring about disarmament. Nothing more."

He added that he believed UN action against Iraq should be halted as soon as Iraq came into compliance with the Resolutions of the UN Security Council and implemented the Council's decision's in full.