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China Tells Iraq Opposed to Widening War on Terror http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020128/wl/attack_china_iraq_dc_1.html Monday January 28 4:28 AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen told Iraqi counterpart Tareq Aziz on Monday China does not support the expansion of military action in the war on terrorism, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Qian's comment marked an apparent shift from previous Chinese statements which said Beijing was opposed to the ''wanton'' expansion of military action in the war on terrorism. ``China does not support the expansion of anti-terror military action,'' Xinhua quoted Qian as saying. ``At the same time it hopes that Iraq will cooperate with the U.N. to avoid new and complicated situations which might emerge.'' President Bush has told Iraqi President Saddam Hussein he would face the consequences if U.N. inspectors were not allowed to return to Baghdad, triggering speculation Washington could target Iraq in its war on terrorism following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The United States has threatened to use force against Iraq if it refuses to allow the return of United Nations arms inspectors who left Iraq in 1998 complaining they were being prevented from performing their duties. The dispatch of inspectors, intended to determine whether Baghdad held chemical and biological weapons, was part of U.N. actions against Iraq undertaken after the 1991 Gulf War. The action, authorized by U.N. Security Council resolution 681, also included economic sanctions against Iraq. BACK TO MOSCOW Aziz, who arrived in China on Sunday after a trip to Russia where he sought support in Iraq's confrontation with the United States, called on China for help in resolving Iraq's problems. Aziz said he hoped China would ``play a more active role in settling the Iraqi issue in a just and rational way,'' Xinhua said. Xinhua gave no further details of Aziz's trip. China's Foreign Ministry and the Iraqi embassy declined to give details of his schedule. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted Aziz as saying he would go back to Moscow for more talks on his way back from China. Tass linked Aziz's trip to fresh Russian-U.S. consultations on sanctions beginning on February 6 in Geneva, where they will try to agree to a list of goods allowed into Iraq without U.N. approval. The United States wants ``smart sanctions'' which would cut the list of goods requiring U.N. approval before reaching Iraq while tightening controls over imports deemed usable for military purposes. Following talks with Aziz on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Moscow was opposed to any U.S. military operation against Iraq and it wanted sanctions against Baghdad to be lifted. Qian said China ``sympathized deeply with the Iraqi suffering caused by the long standing sanctions,'' Xinhua said. But he also said resolutions of the U.N. Security Council -- of which both China and Russia are members -- should be the basis for solving the issue. _______________________________ Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Copyright 2002 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! http://auctions.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
