Senior U.S. envoy tells Malaysia that war in Iraq not inevitable

By Sean Yoong, APS, Wednesday 8 January 2003 6:21 AM ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—A senior U.S. envoy told Malaysia Wednesday that a war in Iraq remains avoidable if Baghdad gives up any weapons of mass destruction as required by U.N. Security Council resolutions, Malaysia’s foreign minister said.

U.S. Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who voiced concerns that a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq might trigger widespread instability and plunge the world economy into turmoil.

Bolton assured Malaysian officials that the war is not inevitable, Syed Hamid said.

It is avoidable, but they (the U.S. government) have placed a lot of responsibility on Iraq to comply with the U.N. resolutions, Syed Hamid told a news conference.

Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia’s staunchest opponents of a possible war in Iraq, is Bolton’s third stop on a trip through the Asia-Pacific region to brief officials on Washington’s stance on Iraq and North Korea (news—web sites).

Bolton, speaking separately to reporters, said Kuala Lumpur had also made it plain that it wants Iraq to comply with U.N. resolutions and eliminate weapons programs.

Everybody has agreed on that, and I think that’s a very important point as we enter the next several weeks waiting for the report of the (U.N. arms inspectors) to the Security Council, Bolton said.

The Malaysian government, a key U.S. ally in the international fight against terrorism, has repeatedly warned that a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would fuel anti-Western sentiment among Muslims and could spur more terrorist attacks.

Syed Hamid told Bolton that Malaysia a mostly Muslim country of 23 million people believed Washington was treating Iraq unfairly compared to North Korea, for example.

We have made it very clear we are not happy with the different treatment, Syed Hamid said, stressing Malaysia was convinced that a war in Iraq would not be a popular war among developing as well as Muslim countries.

Since last fall, North Korea has taken steps toward violating international agreements to freeze nuclear weapons programs, such as enriching weapons-grade uranium and reactivating facilities that could be used to make weapons-grade plutonium.

While Washington fears the facilities could be used to build bombs, it has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading.

Syed Hamid said a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kuala Lumpur next month would make a stand on the Iraq issue. Between 40 and 50 nations are expected to attend the summit of the 114-member organization, comprising mostly smaller developing countries.

Bolton visited New Zealand and Singapore earlier this week. After leaving Malaysia, he is to brief officials in the Philippines and Thailand before flying to Japan, South Korea (news - web sites) and China to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program.

Bolton said he had not asked any governments for anything specifically on this trip.