Author: Ewen MacAskill, Ian Black
in Brussels and Ian Traynor in Moscow
Publication: The Guardian, UK
Date: September 15, 2001
o European states qualify support
for military action
o Blair says 'we have an obligation
to help'
o US hints at possibility of strike
against Iraq
The first cracks appeared in George
Bush's fledgling international coalition against terrorism yesterday over
the extent of military action against the prime suspect for the New York
and Washington attacks, Osama bin Laden, and any countries harbouring him.
Only two days after replying positively
to Mr Bush's rallying call, several European countries and Russia - whose
support is considered vital for any action against Bin Laden's refuge in
Afghanistan - yesterday qualified their backing.
In contrast, Tony Blair is unequivocal
that Britain should participate fully in the expected US military action.
He told a packed Commons, recalled to emergency session yesterday: "Murder
of British people in New York is no different in nature from their murder
in the heart of Britain itself. In the most direct sense, therefore, we
have not just an interest, but an obligation to bring those responsible
to account."
The British view is that diplomatic
action alone will be insufficient, even if a squeeze on the Taliban-led
government in Afghanistan and its ally Pakistan forces them into giving
up Bin Laden, leader of the terrorist group al-Qaida.
Mr Blair's stance opens up the prospect
of the US and Britain lining up together behind a hawkish position while
key European countries remain far more cautious, as happened in the attack
on Libya in 1986 and in repeated raids on Iraq since the end of the Gulf
war.
Mr Bush gave the Pentagon authority
yesterday to call 50,000 reservists to active duty. Although the soldiers
will be used for "homeland defence", it marks the first step towards putting
the US on a war footing.
The Senate also unanimously approved
a resolution to allow the administration to "use all necessary and appropriate
force" against the perpetrators of the hijack attacks - including against
any states that may have helped them. Congress approved a $40bn down payment
for rebuilding and retaliation.
The Ministry of Defence is already
preparing contingency plans for British military involvement. But France
signalled that it would not automatically support military action. "Our
humane, political and functional solidarity [with the US] does not deprive
us of our sovereignty and freedom to make up our own minds," the French
prime minister, Lionel Jospin, maintained.
In contrast with statements by Mr
Bush that the US was at war, Mr Jospin said: "We are not at war against
Islam or the Arab-Muslim world."
Echoing this, Louis Michel, the
Belgian foreign minister and current holder of the EU's rotating presidency,
described the union as mobilised but added: "We are not at war."
Germany was forced to try to quash
speculation in the US media that it would stand aloof from military action.
The Germany foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, insisted yesterday that
his country was committed to the fight against terrorism.
Russia, which initially offered
enthusiastic support, was adamant that it would not participate in any
"revenge'' attacks. The Russian defence minister, Sergei Ivanov, said there
was no chance of the US being allowed to launch attacks from the former
Soviet republic, Tajikistan, to the immediate north of Afghanistan. The
potential risks involved in any action against Afghanistan were underlined
by the most threatening statement yet by the Taliban. In a radio address,
the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, warned Afghans that
they faced a military strike, but called on them to stand steadfast "against
the enemy". "Death comes to everyone. We must stand proud as Afghans in
the defence of Islam," he said. "Believe in God, for with the grace of
God the American rockets will go astray and we will be saved.
"I am not afraid of death or of
losing power. I am willing to give up power and my seat, but I am not willing
to give up Islam. We shall be victorious."
The Russians narrowed down the whereabouts
of Bin Laden. Gen Anatoly Kvashnin, Russia's hardline armed forces chief,
said he was "in the southern region of Afghanistan, in the hills of Kandahar''
- the Taliban headquarters.
One of the reasons that several
European foreign ministries are growing anxious is that the possibility
is gaining credibility of a second Gulf war against Iraq to finish off
the job begun in 1991 by toppling the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.
Paul Wofowitz, the hawkish US deputy
defence secretary, hinted at such an attack by casting the challenge much
wider than just taking out Bin Laden. "One has to say it's not just simply
a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing
the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor
terrorism."
The Bush administration said it
was examining the possibility of Iraqi sponsorship of Tuesday's attacks.
