Muted reaction as UN prepares resolution
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Your support makes all the difference.International reaction to the publication of the British dossier was muted yesterday as governments digested the 50 pages and the United Nations weighed its next moves.
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, had no comment, and the New York-based UN weapons inspectors, who hope to return to Iraq in the coming days, were still going through the dossier.
Similarly, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, whose nuclear inspectors work in tandem with the New York specialists in seeking out weapons of mass destruction, said it was "studying the dossier carefully".
Key countries continued to stake out their position before the tabling of a UN resolution aimed at forcing Saddam Hussein to comply with a new regime of weapons inspections. A draft resolution could be tabled in the Security Council today, and Britain hopes to secure its adoption before talks in Vienna next week between the Iraqis and the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix.
But in a blow to America and Britain last night, Jacques Chirac, the French President, ruled out any threat of force in the resolution. Mr Chirac said he had no proof – only "indications" – that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "That is one reason why I want inspectors to return to Iraq ... and verify if there are arms of mass destruction," he said.
China, also a veto-holding permanent member of the Security Council, warned that any attack not authorised by the UN would "lead to severe consequences".
The Greek government showed particular interest in the dossier, which claims that long-range Iraqi missiles could reach as far as Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary,discussed Iraq during a meeting in London with Sukru Sina Gure, the Turkish Foreign Minister.
The Iraqi opposition umbrella group, the Iraqi National Congress, predictably welcomed the report. An official said he hoped it would demonstrate to the British public that President Saddam presented a serious threat.
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