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European plan a diversion: Powell

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington Feb. 9. The United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has said that the European plan for Iraq is not a "solution" but a "diversion" and that it focussed on the wrong issue.

"The issue is not more inspectors. The issue is compliance on the part of the Saddam Hussein regime," Gen. Powell said in an interview on Sunday.

There is a report which first surfaced in Europe that France and Germany are working on a Resolution in the Security Council which will see thousands of blue helmets inside Iraq, stepped up reconnaissance flights over that country and tripling the number of inspectors, all with the objective of coming to grips with the disarmament of that West Asian country. By this, some nations believe that a war with Iraq could be avoided.

But Washington has disagreed right away. "The idea of more inspectors or no-fly zones or whatever may be in this proposal that is being developed is a diversion, not a solution", Gen Powell said and warned Baghdad and the international community that time was running out for Saddam Hussein. "We know what the Iraqis are trying to do. They are just trying to string this out, hoping that it will just go away," he said.

The Bush administration says that there is just no need for any elaborate additional mechanisms to be put in place in Iraq. All it required was for Saddam Hussein to reveal his country's weapons and programmes of weapons of mass destruction.

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