The Hindu : U.K. rejects Saddam's offer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 13, 2002

International

International

U.K. rejects Saddam's offer

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON AUG. 12. An offer by the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, conveyed to Britain through a Labour MP, that he is willing to allow weapons inspectors back into the country has met with a frosty response with the Foreign Office saying that it "does not change anything" in the absence of Baghdad's compliance with the relevant U.N. resolutions.

A spokesperson told The Hindu on Monday that Saddam Hussein knew what he needed to do to break the impasse. "The offer changes nothing. He knows what to do and that is comply with the U.N. resolutions. The ball is in his court," she said

But George Galloway, the MP who was made the offer when he met Mr. Hussein last week, insisted that it must be explored. "Why not test the sincerity of the offer? There is everything to gain," he said, accusing the Foreign Office of pushing a "discredited" line. Mr. Galloway, whose close ties with the Iraqi leadership have led critics to call him an Iraqi "stooge" and "MP from Baghdad Central", quoted Mr. Hussein as saying that he would accept "all U.N. resolutions", including those insisting on "unfettered" access to weapons inspectors. During Mr. Galloway's meeting with the Iraqi President in a bunker at a secret location near Baghdad, Mr. Hussein called on Britain to take an "independent" line in what was seen as an attempt to wean London away from Washington's plans to attack his country.

In recent weeks, Baghdad has sought to woo Britain by talking about its traditionally warm relations with the Arab world and offering access to British experts to inspect sites suspected of holding weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Galloway said "in a sane world" Iraqi's overtures, particularly its latest offer, would be "followed and put to the test". If eventually the offer turned out to be a mere tactic, as Iraq's opponents believed, it would only strengthen the international support for action against Iraq, he said.

The offer, dismissed as a "diversionary tactic" in government circles, came amid growing pressure on the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to desist from supporting any U.S. led attack on Iraq without first exhausting all diplomatic channels to resolve the issue. In a significant development, his close ally and former cabinet Minister, Peter Mandelson, who has just returned from America, accused U.S. policy makers of causing confusion among their allies by sending out "mixed messages" with the State Department and the Pentagon speaking with "different emphases". He said he was not "anti-Bush" but the U.S. President needed to speak in a more international language in order to win international backing.

"They therefore cannot be surprised that Europe and the world is reacting in a confused way when the message we are getting from the administration is not clear," he told The Times as a new opinion poll showed that more than two-thirds of British voters were against military action in Iraq.

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