Sir, - It is now clearer than ever that the permanent UN Security Council members are split on the issue of whether or not to continue with economic sanctions against Iraq.
I fully welcome the recent statement by the French President, Jacques Chirac, when he described the sanctions policy against Iraq as "dangerous, inhuman and inappropriate". Russia's Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, has also written to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, outlining the objections of the Russian Government to the continuation of the sanctions regime.
Public opinion is also clearly changing on this sensitive matter. Sanctions may have served a purpose after the Gulf War, but that was 10 years ago. The sanctions are now outdated and serve only to humiliate the 22 million native Iraqi population.
I strongly believe that more European Union Governments are going to come out and object to the continuation of sanctions against Iraq.
We have all witnessed the damage that sanctions have had on the Iraqi medical service. UNICEF has voiced its anger about the substantial increase in deaths of young children in Iraq. None of us want to see Saddam Hussein being given the right to rebuild his war machine. Political instability in the Middle East serves no positive function.
However, enough is enough and the US and British governments should now ease their objections to removing the against Iraq. I would remind all interested parties that the sanctions operations have only had the effect of whipping up more anti-Western sentiment from many Arabic countries. - Yours, etc.,
Niall Andrews MEP, Member of the Development and Co-operation Committee of the European Parliament, Dublin 2.