UAE opposes military solution to Iraq crisis

The United Arab Emirates told the UN Security Council of its rejection to any non-peaceful solution of the Iraqi crisis and called for enforcing the weapons inspection in Iraq as the sole alternative to war.

Acting UAE permanent ambassador to the UN Abdullah Al Shamsi emphasised before a special council session on Iraq that all parties concerned should show their political good will to ward off military confrontation out of context of international legitimacy in order to avert adverse consequences.

"Information presented by UN chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and the Director-General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohammed El Baradie to the Security Council since January 27 have shown the level of progress in Iraq's cooperation to facilitate the mandate of international inspectors," Al Shamsi said.

These findings, he noted, were a positive step towards a just, comprehensive settlement to the Iraq crisis.

"While we believe in the necessity of building a solid base of mutual trust for cooperation between Iraq and arms inspectors so as to allow the latter finish their job as soon as possible, we demand the international community to pursue its effort of bolstering capabilities and performance of inspection mechanism in Iraq and give the inspectors required ample time to carry out their work in an objective and balanced manner that respects Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he added.

The international community, Al Shamsi stressed, must keep in mind five main issues while handling Iraq's crisis:
* Full respect of UN Security Council's mandate and powers on crisis management, prevention of conflicts and building international peace.It stands as the only legal reference to evaluate inspections' mission.

* Dismissal and refusal of all unilateral military options and solutions which could ignite war.

* Iraq should continue unconditional cooperation with disarmament of its banned weapons as per resolution 1441.

* Iraq should also offer immediate compliance with other legal obligations including detainees from Kuwait and other nationalities and full respect for Kuwait's sovereignty, security and independence.

* The international community is demanded to shoulder its responsibilities away from double standards as per article 14 of resolution 687 calling for full disarmament of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East without exception of any state in reference to Israel which possesses these weapons.