MoD says Iraq war 'not imminent'
Tue, December 17, 2002
Source: Ananova
The Ministry of Defence insists that military action against Iraq is not imminent.
MoD says Iraq war 'not imminent'
The MoD's denial comes after reports that a huge force of 300,000 Allied troops is to be sent to topple Saddam Hussein. Reports that the MoD is to launch the build-up to war this week are dismissed as speculation.
According to a UK paper, UK defence firms would be served Urgent Operational Requirement notices (UORs) to speed up production of missiles and other equipment. But an MoD spokeswoman said: "This is purely speculative. Military action is neither imminent nor inevitable and the diplomatic route is still being pursued."
Earlier, Iraqi opposition leaders meeting in London declared that the country would be a democratic and federal state after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The declaration came after hundreds of delegates from Iraqi religious, ethnic and political groups met to discuss proposals for setting up a new administration in the event of any regime change. Speaking at a news conference at the end of the three-day talks, representatives said they had accomplished two major tasks: the finalising of documents likely to be adopted as the policy of Iraqi opposition. One is a political statement, while the other is a paper on the creation of a post-Saddam transitional period. Hamid Al-Bayati of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and a member of the preparatory committee, said: "There is a very strong determination that we want to come out with a working structure for the opposition."
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