THE EU: The European Parliament said yesterday Iraq's behaviour towards UN arms inspectors did not justify military action and urged the United States to avoid any unilateral use of force.
In a non-binding resolution reflecting unease in Europe at the prospect of looming war, EU parliamentarians declared: "Breaches of UN Security Council Resolution 1441 currently identified by the inspectors with regard to weapons of mass destruction do not justify military action.
"Any further steps must be taken by the Security Council after a full assessment of the situation," it added.
" ... A pre-emptive strike would not be in accordance with international law and the UN Charter and would lead to a deeper crisis involving other countries in the region," it said.
Meanwhile, a poll published yesterday has indicated that four out of five Europeans are opposed to participation in a US-led war on Iraq without explicit UN backing.
The survey, by pollsters EOS Gallup Europe, showed that 82 per cent of Europeans would not support their countries participating in a military intervention without UN support.
This figure is 75 per cent in the 13 countries waiting to join the EU - Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
In Ireland, 77 per cent of people oppose military action without UN approval.
However, that figure falls to just 44 per cent if action was mandated by the UN. A total of 15,080 people took part in the survey, conducted from January 21st-27th.
Some 72 per cent of Europeans believe Iraq's oil resources are the main reason behind Washington's desire to intervene militarily. Just 41 per cent saw current US foreign policy as "positive", while 54 per cent thought it was "negative", the poll showed.- (Reuters, AFP)