Britain has no evidence to link Iraq with the September 11 terror attacks in America and is not planning military action anywhere apart from Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday.
"We have seen no evidence which links Iraq to the atrocities of September 11," Straw told BBC radio, cited by AFP.
"If circumstances change, then we change, but so far they haven't."
Straw added: "No action is in contemplation by the UK government at present," outside Afghanistan.
The foreign secretary denied that Britain's attitude was at odds to that of the United States.
America reserved the right to take action against other organizations and other states if required in a letter last week to the United Nations Security Council.
Straw said that the United States, like Britain, was limited in what action it could take in self defense.
"The UN charter is very specific about circumstances in which military action can be taken place," Straw said.
"We have effective endorsement of the Security Council for this military action.
"Were any action to be taken anywhere else in the world, it has to follow similar principles."
He added: "The US itself is not going to act without any clear evidence and without clear appreciation that military action will have to be a last resort and as part of an overall political strategy."
Iraq was the first Arab country to condemn the attacks on Afghanistan, and tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the offensives.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference said at the end of its Doha meeting Wednesday that the 57 members were against any US attacks targeting Muslim or Arab countries. They said the war waged by the US and its allies against terrorism must be based on solid proof of the suspects’ links to the airborne suicide attacks on the US a month ago.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Shara said in remarks Wednesday that his country is not concerned with the US threats to target countries that harbor terrorism.
The Muslim countries wanted a UN conference to define the term with accuracy – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
