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.