September 30, 2002
Protesters from London to Rome took to the streets on the weekend to voice opposition to a war with Iraq, while Russia held firm in its support for "the quickest possible return" of U.N. arms inspectors despite increasing belligerence from the United States.
Anti-war sentiment sparked protest in cities across the globe, including a huge rally in London including lawmakers and public figures that organizers said drew 400,000 into the streets. Police were more conservative, pegging the number at 150,000.
In Rome, some 100,000 demonstrators protested Washington's Iraq policy, according to organizers, challenging Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's support for US threats against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The Trotskyite Workers' Party in Paris called Saturday for the broadest possible mobilization of demonstrators to "say No to war in Iraq." And London's "Don't Attack Iraq" demonstration -- which had "freedom for Palestine" as a parallel theme -- was spearheaded by a broad coalition including veteran pacifist groups and Muslim representatives.
Protests were also held in Sydney and Denver, Colorado, that demonstration taking place outside a Republican fund raiser attended by U.S. President George W. Bush in Denver, Colorado.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri labeled Washington-Tel Aviv the "real axis of evil" Saturday as diplomats and protesters upped the ante in the struggle over a possible U.S.-led strike against Saddam Hussein's regime. "The real axis of evil is the axis of Washington-Tel Aviv. This is the real axis of evil," Sabri told reporters in Tehran, where he aims to raise opposition to a US strike from his country's old arch-foe Iran.
And Iraqi officials vowed to reject any new United Nations resolution that is "harmful" to its interests. "The position on the inspectors has been decided and any new measure intended to harm Iraq is unacceptable," Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Saturday, responding to a New York Times report of a White House draft U.N. resolution calling on Iraq to grant UN weapons inspectors unrestricted access to all sites within seven days or face military action.
US envoy Marc Grossman, accompanied by British Foreign Office envoy Peter Ricketts and their countries' ambassadors to Moscow, wrapped up two hours of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on a strong UN resolution on Iraq.
In Moscow, Grossman, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, gave no indication of whether his team had made progress in securing Russian approval for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would give the United States to right to attack Iraq should Baghdad not fully comply with the demands of U.N.-mandated weapons inspectors.
Ivanov said after the talks that Moscow said weapons inspectors should return as quickly as possible to Iraq to assess an alleged weapons of mass destruction program. "We attach particular importance to the quickest possible return to Iraq of UN weapons inspectors who must give their answer regarding the presence or otherwise of weapons of mass destruction," he said in a statement. "Our purpose here today was not to negotiate an agreement," Grossman said after the talks.
Moscow has put up heavy resistance to U.S. and British diplomatic pressure, since it has strong ties with Baghdad and has argued that no new U.N. resolution is necessary following President Saddam Hussein's agreement to allow U.N. arms inspectors unfettered access.
France on Friday had rebuffed Grossman's efforts to gain support for the draft resolution, with President Jacques Chirac also restating his opposition to any UN resolution that allows automatic armed recourse against Iraq.
France favors a resolution that is "simple and firm, showing the unity and determination of the international community," Chirac's spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said. Bush stressed Saturday that the United States was united against Saddam Hussein. "We're moving toward a strong resolution authorizing the use of force, if necessary," the president said in his weekly radio address.
Iraq, meanwhile, sought to convince Middle Eastern and Arab neighbors that they are also at risk from Washington's hawkish campaign. "The United States' aggressive plans are against all the Muslim and Arab peoples in the region," Sabri said at the outset of his two-day visit to Tehran.
Iraqi opposition groups, eager not to appear tied to US-led potential strikes against Saddam and hoping to boost ties to the European Union, announced they had chosen Brussels as the venue for a major conference to be held next month.
Hans Blix, chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), was to reopen another round of negotiations with Iraq in Vienna today on logistics for resuming work after a gap of four years.
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