World's Nations Oppose War Against Iraq [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

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Subject:        	World's Nations Oppose War Against Iraq [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
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1) 53-Member African Union Firm Against War On Iraq
2) 22-Nation Arab League Chairman: Iraq War Will Have
Devastating Impact On Entire Region
3) Russia: No Grounds For Military Action Against Iraq
4) Poll: 52% Of Russians "Outraged And Angered" By
US-British War Plans; Only 3% Support War
5) China Stands Firm Against Iraq Action
6) Indians Oppose US Attack On Iraq


http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1042491492077&p=1012571727172

Financial Times
February 4, 2003

African Union firm against Iraq action
By James Lamont in Johannesburg



The African Union said on Wednesday it was firmly
opposed to a US-led military confrontation with Iraq.




At the end of a two-day summit in Addis Ababa, the
53-nation union said conflict in the Middle East would
have ?far-reaching? security consequences for Africa.

South Africa?s President Thabo Mbeki, the AU?s union?s
chairman, said a war against Iraq threatened a repeat
of escalating oil prices in the 1970s, which left many
African countries highly indebted.

?It is possible to resolve the matter of weapons of
mass destruction without resort to war,? Mr Mbeki
said.

-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030204-094233-4535r

Arab officials warn of Iraq war impact
>From the International Desk



BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Two top Arab
officials warned Tuesday that a war on Iraq will have
a devastating political, economic and social impact on
the whole Arab region.

Amr Mousa, secretary-general of the 22-member Arab
League, saw "endless losses" and "great instability"
in the region if the U.S. war on Iraq starts.

"We have to face this matter but we also have to face
another reality: the region cannot confront such a
kind of war and the Arab countries cannot stand idle,"
Mousa told Lebanon's As Safir newspaper. "This is a
war against an Arab country" in contrast to the 1991
Gulf war which was meant to liberate Kuwait. "We
cannot and should not participate in striking any Arab
country, including Iraq," he said.

Asked about Arab efforts to spare Iraq a war, Mousa
replied: "For sure, we are not the Soviet Union. We
are facing a superpower (the United States) and we
should be aware of what's going on. We do not declare
war on a superpower because we cannot do this but we
should do everything to prevent this superpower from
striking the Arab countries."

The Arab League chief has been outspoken in his
opposition to military operations in Iraq. On Sunday
he declared Arab leaders, who were to hold a summit
meeting next March, were exerting efforts to save the
region and should have "a say" because of the
dangerous consequences of war on Iraq.

"The Iraqi issue is an Arab matter in the first place
and we should have a say in what the region could be
exposed to such as destruction and dangerous impact
that might result from any military or political
action," Mousa said after a meeting with Lebanese
President Emile Lahoud in Beirut.

He called for an Arab action to "save the whole
region" and said efforts were underway to hold a
meeting of the Arab foreign ministers in Cairo later
this month as a prelude for the Arab summit meeting
initially set to take place in Bahrain during March.

Ibrahim Qweidar, director-general of the Arab Labor
Organization, told al-Mustaqbal newspaper Tuesday that
the war on Iraq will have direct psychological, social
and economic impact on the whole Arab region.

"The economic impact will be terrible and will not
only affect Iraq's neighbors but also will expand from
Morocco to Bahrain," Qweidar said. "The Gulf region
will witness great economic problems and there will be
stagnation in the oil sector as never seen before."

He said economic development programs will be thus
affected and the tourism sector, which is the main
source of revenues for many Arab countries including
Lebanon, will suffer great losses.

Noting that there were currently some 20 million Arabs
unemployed, Qweidar said unemployment rate will
further increase because no job opportunities will be
available.

"If the war (on Iraq) lasts a month, it will
undoubtedly negatively affect the whole Arab region
for the 10 coming years," he concluded.

------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3014329&startrow=31&date=2003-02-04&do_alert=0

Novosti
February 4, 2003

MOSCOW: NO GROUNDS FOR MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAQ

MOSCOW, 4th February, 2003 /Corr. RIA Novosti Yevgeny
Zainabitdinov/ -- Official spokesman for the Russian
Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko announced on
Tuesday that Moscow still believes there are no
grounds for military action against Baghdad, as the
heads of UNMOVIC and the IAEA have not reported any
violations by Iraq of UN Security Council resolutions.


According to him, Baghdad has allowed immediate access
to facilities to be checked, has provided the UN
inspectors with the necessary organisational
assistance and in line with UNMOVIC wishes has handed
over additional information about Iraq's former
weapons of mass destruction programme. "Moscow is
counting on the fact that these actions will be
followed by similar steps, for which we are conducting
the appropriate work with Baghdad," Yakovenko said.

The Russian diplomat stressed that UNMOVIC claims and
wishes in relation to the Iraqi side were work-related
and could be settled through future contacts and
inspections. In this connection, the Russian Foreign
Ministry positively evaluates the agreement reached on
Iraq's initiative on UNMOVIC and IAEA heads visiting
Baghdad in the coming days to clarify the remaining
questions.

"In the course of the UN Security Council session,
Russian will confirm its principles and unchanging
position in favour of a political-diplomatic
settlement to the situation surrounding Iraq on the
basis of UN Security Council resolutions and norms of
international law," Yakovenko said. He stressed that
UNMOVIC and the IAEA created great "inspection
potential" for this to be achieved. Alexander
Yakovenko emphasised that this stance was broadly
supported in the Security Council and the UN as a
whole.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rosbaltnews.com/2003/02/04/61247.html

Rosbalt (Russia)
February 4, 2003

Poll Shows Most Russians Oppose Military Action
against Iraq


MOSCOW, January 31. Over half of Russians oppose
military action against Iraq, as shown by a public
opinion poll of 1,600 people conducted by the
All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre on January
24-28. 52% of respondents said they are "outraged and
angered" by US and British plans to launch a military
operation against Iraq, and only 3% said they support
it. When asked what Russia should do if the USA
launches a military attack on Iraq, 38% said Russia
should not take part in it, but remain an ally of the
USA in the anti-terror coalition. 24% of respondents
believe Russia should condemn US actions and provide
diplomatic assistance to Iraq.
------------------------------------------------------
http://asia.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/02/04/sprj.irq.china.iraq/

CNN
February 5, 2003

China stands firm on Iraq action
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
CNN Senior China Analyst


HONG KONG, China (CNN) --Beijing has reiterated its
opposition to military action against Iraq outside the
framework of the United Nations.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, in New York
City to attend today's Security Council deliberations
on Iraq, said all parties "should strive for a
political settlement of the Iraqi question within the
U.N. framework."

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to present
to the Security Council new evidence that the regime
of Saddam Hussein is developing weapons of mass
destruction and hampering the work of U.N. weapons
inspectors.

Tang said, however, that the inspectors should be
given more time to do their work and that it is too
early to come to a conclusion about whether Baghdad
had violated U.N. resolutions on dismantling its
weapons programs.

He said the Security Council should not come to a
decision on Iraq until the inspectors had presented
clear-cut findings and views.

The Chinese senior diplomat called on Bagdhad to abide
by all U.N. resolutions on getting rid of its weapons
of mass destruction.

Tang added that Chinese had always supported peaceful
solutions to global issues.

"If there is just one iota of hope for a political
solution, the international community should devote
100 per cent effort [toward this solution]," Chinese
state media on Wednesday quoted Tang as saying.

Western diplomats in Beijing have said China would
work closely with fellow permanent Security Council
members France and Russia to prevent the U.S. from
taking unilateral military action against Iraq.

The diplomats said, however, that should there be a
new U.N. Security Council resolution that would
authorize force against Iraq under certain
circumstances, Beijing would likely abstain from
voting.

It is understood that while there is an upsurge of
media articles in China slamming U.S. "unilateralism"
in Iraq, Beijing still does not want a head-on
confrontation with Washington over the Middle East.
-------------------------------------------------------http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=22538


Arab News (Saudi Arabia)
February 5, 2003

Indians oppose US attack on Iraq
By Nilofar Suhrawardy, Special to Arab News

-In many countries, more than 50 percent of
respondents opposed military action even if it is
sanctioned by the UN. These include Pakistan (60
percent), Argentina (83 percent), Russia (59 percent)
and France (60 percent).

NEW DELHI, 5 February 2003 ? A majority of Indians are
opposed to any military action against Iraq under any
circumstances but believe it is likely to occur in the
next few months, according to an international survey
conducted by Gallup.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also reiterated
India?s stand against US war on Iraq yesterday and
hoped that ?good sense? would prevail.

Almost half the Indians who participated in the survey
believe that American foreign policy has a ?negative
effect? on the country.

Almost 65 percent of the respondents believed that it
is either ?very likely? or ?quite likely? that
military action will be launched against Iraq in the
next few months.

Taylor-Nelson Sofres-Mode conducted the survey last
month in four major cities among 1,048 randomly
selected people as part of a larger international poll
by Gallup.

The poll found that some 80-90 percent of the people
in 41 countries think military action is likely to be
launched against Iraq in the next few months but half
the population in these nations is not in favor of
such action.

The poll covered some 30,000 people in the 41
countries. More than half of the Americans contacted
thought a war was very likely in the near future.
Forty-seven percent of the Indian respondents said
they believed American foreign policy has a negative
effect on the country.

On the question of military action against Iraq, 28
percent of the Indians said it was ?very likely? while
37 percent said it was ?quite likely?.

Fifty-nine percent said they were not in favor of
military action against Iraq under any circumstances
while 29 percent said such action could be taken only
if the United Nations sanctioned it.

If military action was taken against Iraq, 62 percent
Indians said New Delhi should not support it while 35
percent favored supporting it. Only eight percent of
the respondents were in favor of a unilateral attack
by the US and its allies.

Vajpayee also voiced his opposition to a US-led attack
against Iraq and said he hoped both sides would end
the build-up in military tensions.

?We do not favor an attack on Iraq. We still hope
there will be no such move,? Vajpayee said.

?And we hope good sense prevails on them,? Vajpayee
said without elaborating.

In many countries, more than 50 percent of respondents
opposed military action even if it is sanctioned by
the UN. These include Pakistan (60 percent), Argentina
(83 percent), Russia (59 percent) and France (60
percent).
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