Iraq a 'serious threat': Bush, Blair September 08, 2002 US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have labelled "irresponsible" any failure to act on the "serious threat" of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "This world faces a serious threat. And we are going to talk about it," said Bush, speaking at the presidential retreat at Camp David shortly after Blair's arrival overnight. "This man has defied every UN resolution," Bush noted of the Iraqi leader. "The battlefield has changed, we are in a new kind of war," the US president said, speaking four days before the year anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States that claimed around 3,000 lives. Shortly before Bush and Blair's press conference, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, at the conclusion of a summit with French President Jacques Chirac in Hanover, had warned off the United States from taking unilateral action. "We are fully in agreement on four points: No unilateral action by the United States; a solution which goes through the United Nations Security Council; the unconditional return of UN arms inspectors to Iraq; and no change in the aims" over Iraq, said Schroeder at a joint press conference with Chirac. Meanwhile, Bush, who has failed to win the support he hoped for from UN Security Council members Russia, China and France, looked to the support of Britain's Blair. "It's an important meeting because he is an important ally and friend," said ahead of evening talks. For his part, Blair declared: "That threat is real. The policy of inaction is not a policy we can responsibly subscribe to." "It's an issue not just for America, not just for Britain ... This is an issue for the whole of the international community. We've got to make sure that there is a way of dealing with it," Blair said. Both leaders cited the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as evidence Iraq had not abandoned its nuclear ambitions. Satellite images show new buildings on many of the Iraqi nuclear sites inspected in the past by the United Nations, according to Jacques Baute, who in the past led a number of IAEA teams to Iraq. The IAEA has been charged by the United Nations with carrying out inspections on Iraq, but since 1998 that country has refused to allow them back. "The importance of this morning's report, is that it yet again shows that there is a real issue that has to be tackled here," Blair said. Bush, appearing to negate the growing global view that unilateral US action against Iraq would simply not be unacceptable, said: "We have a lot of support. A lot of people understand the danger." Blair arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at 1835 GMT from where he traveled by helicopter directly to the presidential retreat at Camp David, northwest of the federal capital, in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. In conversations en route with reporters, Blair said Baghdad should be forced to disclose its military potential. It is "essential... that there is a proper regime in place for monitoring inspections" of Iraq's military. Blair's office in Downing Street denied the two men would be holding a "war council", but they are widely expected to chart a strategy for persuading other world leaders, notably via the United Nations, of the need for military action. He was speaking as criticism of a US-led pre-emptive strike to topple Saddam's regime has increased in volume despite a diplomatic overdrive by Bush and Blair, Washington's closest ally on the matter. Calls to the leaders of the three other UN Security Council permanent members France, Russia and China have failed to garner support for such action. Earlier in the day, Baghdad had welcomed an intensification of dissent from the international community as Bush and Blair prepared to hold their day-long meeting at Camp David. Moscow's resistance to pleas from its allies, meanwhile, met with satisfaction from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri earlier Saturday. Speaking on his return to the Iraqi capital after a trip to Russia and Egypt, the Iraqi minister noted his "fruitful" talks in Moscow with counterpart Igor Ivanov were testimony to the "solid relations of friendship between the two countries." "Russia rejects the (US) threats, calls for a comprehensive settlement and continuing dialogue with the United Nations," Sabri noted. Bush and Blair's personal lobbying of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council is critical to their military goals, since they all hold veto power over any UN resolution on Iraq. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview published Saturday that even a return of inspectors may not be sufficient to satisfy hawks in Washington. Arab leaders, meanwhile, criticized what they said was a desire to "Balkanize Iraq" and destabilize the Middle East in Washington's drive. Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam also predicted military action would bring "disastrous consequences not only for Iraq, but for the entire region and beyond." He added that such a result would achieve "Israel's strategic objective to see the Arab world disintegrate." The UN pulled out its inspection team in December 1998 after the Iraqis halted cooperation with the United Nations. Agence France-Presse Back Get News by Email Print This Article Email This Article OTHER HEADLINES