Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, will make it clear during his mission to the Middle East next week that America is prepared to take unilateral military action to bring about a change of regime in Iraq.
Details of Mr Cheneyís tour were revealed as the United Nations Secretary-General, striving to avoid a new Gulf war, invited Iraq last night to a second round of talks in mid-April to focus on the return of UN weapons inspectors.
The Vice-President will start a tour of 11 countries in ten days by seeking reassurance that the US has the support of its closest ally. He will fly to Britain on Sunday for talks with Tony Blair, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary.
ìWe donít expect there will be any gulf between us,î a British official said. ìThe world in general needs to be prepared for what is about to happen and our European allies need to be prepared for what is going to happen.î
He added that some progress was being made. ìWe think the French have come a long way – from being dubious about regime change to being more open to the idea that it can be done.î
A US official said that there should not be any doubt that America was going to act to bring about a change of regime and that it was prepared to take unilateral military action if necessary. The message to other Arab countries would be: ìWe are prepared to do this. What are you prepared to do to help?î With no clear blueprint for the kind of government that would be established in Baghdad after the removal of President Saddam Hussein, Mr Cheney will spend much of his time soliciting the views of Iraqís neighbours.
Among the few certainties in the minds of Bush Administration officials is that a post-Saddam Iraq should be a democracy and maintain its present borders. An Afghanistan-style interim government is one option being considered.
At a high-stakes meeting in New York, Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, asked Naji Sabri, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, to spell out the conditions under which his country was ready to accept the return of the UN inspectors when they meet again shortly after the Arab League summit in Beirut at the end of this month.
Iraq responded by handing the UN its own list of about 20 questions, asking how it could be sure that new UN inspection teams would not be used by the United States to spy or to draw up target lists for bombing.
With the Bush Adminstration speaking threateningly of a ìregime changeî in Iraq, Mr Annan made it clear that he was hoping for a peaceful end to the long-running stand-off over weapons inspections.
ìI think we have our hands full already with the tragedy that is going on there already, so I would want to see a situation where we are able to solve our differences diplomatically,î he said. In a statement, the UN chief called the discussions both ìfrank and usefulî. Mr Sabri called them ìa positive and constructive exchange of viewsî.
Iraq has always rejected the UN resolution setting up the new UN inspectorate, known as Unmovic. But Mr Sabri did not balk when Mr Annan made it clear that Security Council Resolution 1284 was the basis of the talks, and the Iraqi minister even referred to it himself at one point.
Diplomats considered it significant that Hans Blix, the Unmovic chairman, took part in yesterdayís talks, and that the six-man Iraqi delegation included General Hossam Amin, who oversaw the UN inspectorsí previous work inside Iraq.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britainís UN ambassador, said: ìThe fact that the Iraqis have said they are willing to come back in April shows they are interested in creating a new process. That could be because they realise they need to pretend they are going to comply, or it could be because they are willing to comply.î
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