If the preparations for the war in Iraq are being stepped up with the growing despatch of Western troops to the Persian Gulf (especially by the USA, Britain and France), the attempt to resolve the stand-off with Saddam Hussein without recourse to arms is, it seems, increasingly gaining ground. The Greek foreign minister and current president of the EU Council, Giorgos Papandreou, has announced his plans to send a peace mission to seven countries in the area (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria), aimed at seeking a peaceful solution to the USA-Iraq crisis through the active involvement of the countries of the Middle East region. The mission should set out at the beginning of February. It could be mission composed of Denmark, Greece and Italy, the three member states of the EU that sit on the UN Security Council (France and the United Kingdom as permanent members, Germany as rotating member) and the EU’s senior representative for foreign policy and common security, Javier Solana, who has declared that “no war can be mounted against Iraq without proof”. From Athens, Greek premier Kostas Simitis has reaffirmed the determination both of the Union and of his country to abide by UN Resolution 1441 on the sending of weapons inspectors for Iraqi disarmament (whose final report is expected on 27 January) and not to support any measures that fail to conform with the decisions of the United Nations.
