WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Hina) - Making a decision to attack Iraq is a matter of time. Croatia is following discussions at the United Nations and the European Union and will assume an adequate stance when the decision is made, the Croatian
Ambassador to the United States, Ivan Grdesic, said in Washington on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Hina) - Making a decision to attack Iraq is a
matter of time. Croatia is following discussions at the United
Nations and the European Union and will assume an adequate stance
when the decision is made, the Croatian Ambassador to the United
States, Ivan Grdesic, said in Washington on Wednesday. #L#
"All deadlines have expired and it is evident that the only
remaining issue is to present arguments and convince allies and the
Security Council for action to be taken," Grdesic told Hina. He was
present during U.S. President George Bush's speech in Congress.
"I believe that the decision has been made in principle to disarm
Saddam (Hussein) and change his regime," Grdesic said in response
to a question whether war was imminent. "Decisions will follow very
soon, probably at the beginning of next month."
"The situation is very serious and it is just a matter of time. The
time for intervention is relatively short, considering the weather
conditions," Grdesic said.
"It is also evident that President Bush's administration has come
to the conclusion that it is necessary to present additional
arguments and justify every type of intervention, which will also
probably be the task of State Secretary (Colin) Powell," he said,
stressing the importance of the United States' cooperation with the
U.N. Security Council.
Making an assessment on how Croatia should conduct itself in the
entire Iraq crisis, Grdesic said he believed that Croatia's role in
this situation was "the same as that of all other European
countries".
"The Croatian government will closely follow the discussion in the
Security Council, decisions by the UN, decisions and conduct of
European allies and transatlantic allies, and make an adequate
stance after a decision is made," said the ambassador.
"It would be politically more convincing and useful for us, as well
as all countries, certainly including the United States, that all
allies and the Security Council give their approval for the
intervention," Grdesic said.
If the decision to attack is made unilaterally, Croatia will,
naturally, assess to what extent it can help in the intervention and
how extensive America's demands to Croatia will be for cooperation,
he said.
The Croatian ambassador added that "the consequences of the
intervention will certainly be great, but it is also certain that
Saddam Hussein's regime is hazardous for the world and for his own
people".
(hina) lml sb