--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
WEEKLY REVIEW
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates
Hotel Service


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation
Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN
Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland
Foreign Affairs College
Institute of American Studies Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Annan Stresses UN Role in Disarming Iraq, Calls for Peaceful Solution
Use of force is the last resort to get rid of Iraq's alleged banned weapons and any decision to use force should be made by the United Nations Security Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Saturday.

"This (disarming Iraq) is an issue not for any one state, but for the international community as a whole," Annan said in an address at a ceremony marking the 310th anniversary of the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

"When states decide to use force, not in self-defense but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the UN Security Council," he stressed in the televised speech.

"States and peoples around the world attach fundamental importance to such legitimacy, and to the international rule of law."

He warned that the goal to curb global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) would be fatally damaged if such weapons were actually used in a war against Iraq.

"Nothing, of course, would undermine that goal more fatally than the actual use of weapons of mass destruction. I must therefore solemnly warn all parties to forswear any use of such weapons, in Iraq or anywhere," he emphasized.

The United Nations has the duty to "exhaust all possibilities of peaceful settlement, before resorting to the use of force," Annan said.

Annan's calls came as the United States intensified diplomacy to win international support for military action against Iraq, and two top weapons inspectors are due to give a second report on inspections in Iraq.

The UN chief reiterated his belief that Iraq could be disarmed through inspections. "Inspections can work -- as we know from the experience of the early 1990s. Then, United Nations inspectors destroyed many more weapons and facilities than all the bombing had done," he noted.

Nevertheless, the UN chief made it clear that the United Nations will shoulder its responsibilities if Iraq fails to meet its obligations to disarm.

"If Iraq fails to make use of this last chance, and continue its defiance, the (security) council will have to make another grim choice, based on the findings of the inspectors -- a choice more complex, and perhaps more fateful, than the one that faced it in 1990," he said.

"When that time comes, the council must face up to its responsibilities."

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2003)

War Still not Inevitable: UN Chief
Chinese FM Urges Political Solution to Iraq Issue Within UN Framework
Russia Stresses UN Role to Decide on Use of Force Against Iraq
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688