Posted on 03/01/2003 4:26:05 AM PST by JustPiper
Tony Blair's efforts to secure United Nations backing for war against Iraq were strengthened last night when weapons inspectors said that Saddam Hussein's co-operation on disarmament had been "very limited".
Details of a draft report from Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, emerged as Mr Blair stepped up efforts to win backing for a fresh UN resolution on Iraq after being rocked by his most serious backbench revolt.
Hans Blix
A copy of Dr Blix's report obtained by the BBC said that Iraq could have made greater efforts to find any remaining banned weapons or provide evidence of their absence.
"The results have been very limited so far," Dr Blix said. It was "hard to understand" why measures Iraq was now taking "could not have been initiated earlier". Dr Blix will present his report to the Security Council tomorrow.
Last night Iraq agreed "in principle" to destroy the al-Samoud missiles that the inspectors insist must be scrapped because their range exceeds the 90-mile limit the UN has set.
A chief scientific adviser to Saddam wrote to Dr Blix stating that "in principle Iraq accepts the request for the destruction of the missiles and other items listed".
Downing Street had already expressed concern that Iraq would seek to deflect attention from the report by agreeing to destroy the al-Samouds.
"We always thought this was likely to be part of the drip feed of concessions," the Prime Minister's spokesman said. "This is how Saddam plays the concession game. It is not the full, immediate co-operation that the UN demands."
A White House source declined to comment on the draft report in detail, but said: "In general, we have confidence that Mr Blix will continue to back our view that Saddam has co-operated on process but not on substance.
"By the time he reports again, it will be clear to the world that this dictator is playing games with the UN."
Members of the Cabinet warned Mr Blair that he must secure the backing of the UN if he were to hold the party and his Government together in the event of war.
The weekly Cabinet meeting was dominated by a sombre 40-minute discussion on the previous night's mutiny by 121 Labour MPs, the biggest suffered by a governing party for at least 100 years.
Mr Blair's growing difficulties in persuading his MPs and the public of the case for war is underlined by a YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph today.
It shows that a large majority of the public has lost faith in him. Only a third of those questioned thinks that he and his colleagues have proved honest and trustworthy.
Although the official line from Downing Street was that members of the Cabinet were "rock solid" in support of Mr Blair's position, it became clear that ministers had been taken aback by the scale of Wednesday night's revolt.
Mr Blair insisted that the rebellion would not deflect him from disarming Iraq. Officials said he remained "passionately" committed to the cause, if necessary by war.
Much of the discussion centred on the importance of securing a second UN resolution explicitly authorising the use of force.
One Labour rebel, Frank Dobson, a former health secretary, warned ministers that they would face an even bigger revolt if they joined an American-led attack on Iraq without UN sanction.
He said that a "substantial majority" of Labour MPs shared the doubts and concerns of the rebels. If there was not clear, explicit authority from the Security Council for military action, they would not support the Government.
Officials said that Mr Blair remained "absolutely committed" to a second resolution. However, he has not ruled out supporting an American-led invasion if there were an "unreasonable" veto in the Security Council on the use of force.
Mr Blair's spokesman said the Cabinet had not discussed what would happen if the resolution was not passed. "We are not at that point."
But officials acknowledged that Britain could struggle to gain the nine votes need for the draft second resolution.
After Mr Blair attended the enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, where he encountered anti-war protesters, he flew to meet the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, a leading ally at the UN.
Today he will be in Swansea for the Welsh Labour Party conference to lobby support for his stance on Iraq.
John Reid, the party chairman, acknowledged concern about the scale of the MPs' revolt. He told the conference that Mr Blair had a duty to listen to the anti-war lobby but also had a duty to lead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.