Powell claims Saddam has 'clear ties' to al-Qaeda

www.smh.com.au January 27 2003

US Secretary of State Colin Powell accused Saddam Hussein today of having clear links with the al-Qaeda network, in an address to the World Economic Forum in Washington. And he said the US had a sovereign right to attack Iraq for failing to account for weapons of mass destruction.

"The more we wait, the more chance there is for this dictator with clear ties to terrorist groups including al-Qaeda to pass a weapon, share technology or use these weapons again," he said.

The US Secretary of State did not elaborate on the issue or provide any details on a connection between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network in his address, which focused on Iraq's weapons program.

"The nexus of tyrants and terror, of terrorists and weapons of mass terror, is the greatest danger of our age," Powell warned.

In the speech, Powell stepped up pressure on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying Iraq had not complied with a UN resolution demanding that Baghdad expose and dismantle any nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

He warned that the US was prepared to take military action against Iraq on its own if it did not comply now.

His comments came as the newspaper of Iraq's ruling Baath party today advised the Iraqi people to be prepared for martyrdom in the event of a US-led invasion.

Babil newspaper, run by President Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Uday, claimed the Iraqi people and their armed forces were prepared to die for a "just cause" and warned of heavy casualties for an invading force.

US and British soldiers would face the choice of "withdrawing from the battlefield or returning home in bodybags", the newspaper predicted.

The paper said Iraqis should be prepared for great sacrifices to defend "their dignity, independence and security".

In his address, Powell said: "We continue to reserve our sovereign right to take military action on Iraq alone or in a coalition of the willing," Powell told the gathering of global political and business leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"This is not about (UN weapons) inspectors finding smoking guns. It is about Iraq's failure to tell the inspectors where to find its weapons of mass terror."

"There's no indication whatever that Iraq has made the strategic decision to come clean and comply with its international obligations to disarm."

Debates at the week-long forum on global economic and political problems have been overshadowed by the threat of a US-led war on Iraq and the political and economic damage it could create.

Powell's hard-hitting comments today provoked criticism from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Amnesty International, pessimism from King Abdullah II of Jordan and praise from US businessmen.

"Conflicts should be solved politically and within the United Nations," insisted Lula, at the start of much-awaited speech on a "fairer world economic order".

"We are looking for peaceful solutions to international conflict. Peace is not only a moral objective, it is a rational one," he said.

But Jordan's King Abdullah II later said in Davos he believed it was now too late to find a peaceful outcome to the crisis between the US and Iraq.

And the head of rights group Amnesty International, Irene Khan, warned "military action could easily precipitate a ... humanitarian nightmare".

"It's too late for a diplomatic solution. It will be very difficult to find dialogue, a peaceful solution to the crisis," King Abdullah said.

"Whatever happens, I hope it is as quick and painless as possible."

Powell's speech met with a standing ovation from the first 10 rows of his audience, which were packed with US politicians and executives. The rest of the large conference hall stayed seated.

The extent to which Iraq dominated proceedings in Davos sparked irritation from the chairman of Unilever, Niall FitzGerald.

"Iraq will come and it will go. Trade will be with us for ever," he told a meeting on the forthcoming Cancun round of world trade liberalisation negotiations.

Brazil's culture minister, singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil, told reporters he hoped next year's Davos forum would be free of war and could concentrate on solutions to the "crisis in the European model, the American model and the weakened United Nations".

On the US threat to attack Iraq, said: "It's an isolationist position which many countries are complaining about."

AFP and DPA