Non-aligned nations line up against war with Iraq, urge Baghdad to disarm

Non-aligned nations line up against war with Iraq, urge Baghdad to disarm

Saif Eldin Hamdan, Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Leaders of the developing world lined up in Malaysia on Monday to
oppose war in Iraq and urge Baghdad to disarm.

Host Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, opening a summit of the
Non-Aligned Movement, set the tone with a fierce condemnation of
war and an attack on what he called the West's hypocrisy and
warmongering of richer nations.

Iraq, one of the movement's 116 members, expressed delight at
a succession of speeches from leaders of a bloc that accounts for
for almost two-thirds of the United Nations.

War solved nothing, Mahathir said, urging reform of the United
Nations to ensure world disarmament.

"No single nation should be allowed to police the world, least
of all to decide what action to take, when."

But he joined the global chorus for Iraq to comply with UN
resolutions, saying: "Everyone must disarm."

"War must be outlawed... War is primitive," Mahathir told the
opening of the two-day summit that saw two more nations admitted
to NAM, taking its membership to 116.

South African President Thabo Mbeki took up the theme, and it
was echoed in speech after speech by leaders who condemned war
but demanded Iraq comply with UN resolutions and get rid of any
weapons of mass destruction.

"I... plead with President Saddam Hussein to urgently
negotiate a win-win settlement that will spare the heroic Iraqi
people the agonies of the devastating war," Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said.

The group was set to issue a statement that Baghdad comply
with UN demands and scrap weapons of mass destruction, but it
would also take a swipe at the United States by stressing the
need for multilateral, not unilateral, action.

The United States, backed by Britain, is massing troops on
Iraq's border and threatening war unless Saddam surrenders the
alleged weapons.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan underscored the need for Iraq
to disarm and to cooperate, in remarks read to the summit.

Many leaders stressed NAM's desire that the United Nations --
and not the United States -- should be the top world arbiter of
international crises such as Iraq.

With many Muslim nations among NAM, leaders pleaded for a
peaceful resolution of the confrontation with Iraq and stressed
the importance of respect for UN processes, as NAM struggles to
ensure it remains relevant.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said he was delighted at the
stand of the developing world.

"This is excellent, more than excellent. It shows the
conscience of the people of the non-aligned countries."
Sabri backed Mahathir's appeal for peace and hit out at the
United States.

"Warlike policies and warlike plans are against all humanity
and all international community," he said.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, in turn, accused the
United States of "fanatic fundamentalism" in giving itself the
right to resort to force.

NAM's views matter because six of its members are currently on
the UN Security Council: Angola, Guinea, Syria, Pakistan, Chile
and Cameroon. Seven votes against can defeat a resolution.

Most developing nations want weapons inspectors in Iraq to get
more time. NAM nations have seized on a March 1 deadline for Iraq
to start destroying longer-range missiles and avert war.

Security concerns dominated the opening speeches, and Mahathir
came up with a radical proposal that only the United Nations
should have responsibility for the weapons of the world.

"A truly international agency beholden only to the United
Nations General Assembly should oversee the military budget of
all countries, big and small," he said.

A day earlier, he had said that, after taking on Iraq, the
Western powers might turn to Iran and North Korea -- the two
other countries that U.S. President George W. Bush has described
as forming an "axis of evil".

Agreement on Iraq has contrasted with divisions over the issue
of NAM member North Korea and its nuclear arms program, which
runs counter to the principles of the movement.

Communist North Korea has convinced fellow members to
compromise further by not criticizing it for quitting a treaty
preventing the spread of nuclear arms.