Schroeder says peaceful Iraq solution still possible
Germany is convinced the Iraq crisis can still be resolved peacefully, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said today, insisting that UN weapons inspections can produce “sustainable and verifiable disarmament”.
“We must have the courage to fight for peace as long as there is a scrap of hope that a war can be avoided,” Schroeder said, drawing applause as he opened a speech to parliament.
Germany, France and Russia are leading resistance to a proposed Anglo-American UN resolution that would give Iraq a short deadline to prove it has disarmed, or face war. The three nations insist that the UN arms inspectors should be given more time to disarm Saddam Hussein.
“Together with our French friends, with Russia and China, we are more than ever convinced that Iraq’s disarmament can and must be achieved by peaceful means,” Schroeder said.
Reports in recent weeks by the chief UN weapons inspectors show Iraq is co-operating “better and more actively,” the chancellor added, citing Iraq’s destruction of its banned al-Samoud 2 missiles.
“We can achieve sustainable and verifiable disarmament with an extended inspections regime,” he said.
