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Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivistti Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
Blair faces revolt. over backing
u.s. against Iraq
By Warren Doge
1be New York TImes
LONDON: Prime Minister Tony Blair,
the United States's most vocal ally in
the war on terrorism, is running into resis~nce
from hisparty, the British public
and some members ofhis own cabinet
for' backing PresJ4e~t George W.
Bush's'call foi' actioriagainst Iraq. . .
. A group of Labour 'legislators has put
forward a motionürging him not to
~pport any U.S. moves against Baghdad,
and public surveys show that many
of th~ people. who overwhelmingly
backed the war in Afghanistan and dismissed
criticiSm of the American treatment
of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay;
Cuba, do not favor military action in .
Ira~' .
Criticspoint to Blair's continuing
pro-V.S. rhetoric, a visit by Vice President
Richard Cheney here Monday and
.Thursday's announcement of a Blair
trip to the United States next month to
discuss anti-terror strategies with Bush
as evidence that plans for British participation
are already under way. Britain
has a military presence in the Gulf, with
. bombers based in Turkey,Kuwait and
Oman and an aircraft carrier in the In-
'dian Ocean.
~a During what was described by parj
~ticipants
Iran denies ties
to captured
armssmugglers
By NaZlla Fathi
as a robust debate on Iraq at
.e - th~ ~eekly cabinet meeting Thursday,
f-4 ~ mm15ters expressed concern over the
- Q\ lack of public support for such' a move
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TEHRAN: Iran's cabinet spokesman
on Sunday rejected reports that12 Iranians,
iilcluding a general, were arrested
in Afghanistan as they tried to smuggle
arms and money to Afghan warlords.
"According to the Foreign Ministry's
report today at the cabinet meeting,
there, are no Iranian nationals among
those arrested because we have no military
presence in Afghanistan," Abdullah
Ramezanzadeh said.
Ramezanzadeh added that Iran. has
felt no thi.-eat stemming from reports
that the Pent~on is developing new
~~d the absence of àny strategy for lim-
ItIng the extent of Britain's. involvement.
.
Some critics see the latest expressions.
of Blair's s~p~rt for Washington
as a Sign that he ISbeing too obedient to
the president's wishes. The pro-Labour
tab!oid Mirror pictured Blair on Friday
?n ItS front page side by side with Bush
ln a cowboy hat under the headline
"Howdy Poodle."
Blair has publicly backed Bush's
stance on Iraq, sayingthe president was
right to raise the issue of the threat
posed to count~es a~ul.ld the world by
Saddam Hussein's deve\oping weapons
of mass destruction. ' '.
"Iraq is plainly in breach of the
United Nations Security Council resolution
in relation to the accumulation of
weapons of mass destruction," he said
in the Commons this past week, "and
we have to deal with it."
Robin Cook, leader of the House and
form~r foreign secretary, said that the
negative reactions were misguided and
premature.
"There is a danger that discussion in
the press is getting way ahead of where
discussion is here and in the United
States," he said. "There is no decision.
~~re is no ~mmediate prospect of a de-
CISIOn,and It does not necessarily follow
that there will ever be a decision on
the use of militaryaction."
A campaign by Blair to prepare pubtypes
of nuclear weapons to use against
it and six other countries.
"The united States is capable of attacking
any country and, unfortunately,
it does not respect the internationallaw;
but we have not felt the threat that Iran
is a target yet," he said. "We are willing
to have dialogue with all those who are
in favor of peace'but not with those who
propagate violence."
, The New York Times reported Saturday
that 12 Iranians seeking infiltration
and influence in the western parts of
Afghanistan were arrested and handed
over to the U.S. military at the Khada-
. har Airport, where the men were held
and questioned.
The 12 men, allegedly of the Revolutionaty
Guards, a conservative military
body close to the country's supreme religious"leader,
Ayatollah Sayed Ali
Khamenei, could be the first proof of
Iran's involvement in Afghanistan.
,U.S...officials have accused Iran of
li~ opini?n tor the need to take action
wlll begIn Monday when he meets at
No. l~ Do~in~ Street with Cheney,
w~o 15 beglJ~nlDg a .journey to the
Middle East With a stop in London. •
O~e pers