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Straw links Iraq with terror

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JAN. 6. In the most explicit attempt yet by a British Minister to link Iraq with terrorism, the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, today said the Saddam Hussein regime and terror groups such as Al-Qaeda were "part of the same picture'' and warned that both posed a similar threat to national security and world peace.

So far, Britain has avoided linking Iraq with terrorism and the Government has consciously attempted to distance itself from Washington's "axis of evil'' theory equating "rogue'' states such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea with terrorist groups.

Mr Straw's remarks, while addressing an unprecedented gathering of British envoys here, were seen as a sign of further hardening of Britain's Iraqi stance ahead of the crucial January 27 deadline for weapons inspectors to submit their first report to the United Nations. He said Iraq was a "litmus test'' of the international community's determination to make sure that states complied with their non-proliferation commitments.

Dubbing Iraq and North Korea as "rogue'' states for flouting their obligations under international law not to develop weapons of mass destruction, Mr Straw said they were the "most likely sources'' of technology and know-how for terrorist organisations.

``This is why terrorism and rogue regimes are part of the same picture. Our immediate aim must be to disrupt and eliminate terrorist groups which might attempt to acquire WMD (weapons of mass destruction). But we will also have to deter and remove the threat posed by hostile or unstable states which possess or are pursuing WMD,'' he said. About 150 British ambassadors and high commissioners, many from the Muslim world, are attending a two-day brainstorming session called by the Foreign Office to sensitise senior diplomats ahead of an expected war with Iraq, though officials insisted that the meeting was not directly related to events in the Gulf but intended to debate foreign policy issues in the new environment. This is the first time that such a meeting is being held and observers believe that it has been prompted by concern among senior diplomats over the Government's U.S.-centric Iraq policy.

Mr Straw's inaugural address was dominated by Iraq and terrorism — the threat posed by them and the urgency to deal with both with equal severity.

He said Iraqi disarmament, whether achieved by peaceful means or by force, was essential both for the world's capacity to deal with the threat presented by weapons of mass destruction and for the authority of the U.N.

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