Straw dismisses Iraq's weapons claim as a 'blatant untruth'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday that Iraq's claim that it has no weapons of mass destruction was a "blatant untruth".
He said the claim made by Iraq's Foreign Minister, Naji Sabri, to the United Nations on Thursday showed that "the world can put no trust in Iraq's word" and reinforced the need for urgent inspections.
In a statement released at Westminster, Mr Straw said: "After a decade of defying and obstructing the United Nations, Iraq has confirmed its record of evasion and deceit by telling the United Nations it has no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein's regime remains determined to flout the United Nations' authority. It underlines the need for extreme scepticism about Iraq's offer to admit UN inspectors without conditions, and already Iraq is trying to set conditions.
"Iraq does retain the capacity to use chemical and other weapons of terror against its neighbours and its own people, as it has done before. By pretending this is not so, Iraq has reinforced the need for the UN Security Council to insist on intrusive inspections with an urgent timetable."
* Britain is to pull nearly 2,000 troops out of peace-keeping duties in the Balkans, the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon confirmed last night.
Mr Hoon said the reduction of Britain's 4,350-strong force in Kosovo and Bosnia to 2,500 by next spring, was part of a long-term Nato review of peace-keeping needs as political stability returned to the area. Defence sources insisted the redeployment was unconnected to events in the Gulf.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments