Blair to brief British lawmakers on Iraq after Saddam

Agence France-Presse (AFP) ^ | 4-14-03

[Oldeconomybuyer]

LONDON, April 14 (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to brief members of Britain's parliament Monday on the fall of Saddam Hussein and the rebuilding of Iraq before the House of Commons rises for an Easter break.

Blair was to address parliament at 1:30 pm (1230 GMT) as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw continued a four-nation swing through the Gulf ahead of an EU summit in Athens on Wednesday.

Straw's deputy for Middle East issues, Mike O'Brien, was meanwhile due Monday in Damascus, amid stern US warnings to Syria not to give safe haven to fleeing members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Military action has been over much more quickly than we have anticipated because the whole of the Saddam regime was even more fragile than we had thought," O'Brien said Monday on BBC radio's Today program.

With regards to Syria, he said it was "very important that we have full cooperation" from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that O'Brien would be raising that question in Damascus.

"I think what is important is that Syria agrees to sit down with the United States and United Kingdom and actively co-operate over these questions that have been raised over their current relations with Iraq," he said.

But on the possibility of US military action against Damascus, Straw replied: "Syria is not next on the list."

He acknowledged displeasure on the "Arab street" over the US-led war, lauched March 20, to overthrow Saddam's regime and root out Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction.

"But it's also true that very, very few people are shedding a tear for Saddam," he added.

Politicial observers expected Blair to focus on US and British efforts to mop up the last pockets of Iraqi resistance, and to restore civil order to cities blighted by looting.

Blair was also likely to discuss efforts to put a post-Saddam administration into place, on the eve of a meeting of Iraqi opposition leaders in Nasiriyah on Tuesday.

Blair has been US President George W. Bush's staunchest ally throughout the Iraq crisis, sending 45,000 military personnel, a naval task force and more than 100 warplanes to the Gulf.

Last Friday, barely 48 hours after the fall of Baghdad, the British government announced that it would slowly start drawing down its forces in the region, starting with warships and aircraft.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

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