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Caricom states not among supporters of War
Posted: Thursday, March 27, 2003
Trinidad Express
No Caricom country has been listed by the American Department of Defense as supporting the war in Iraq.
In listing 43 countries on its website www.defendamerica.mil the Dominican Republic is the only Caribbean country stated as supporting the war on Iraq. The page titled "International Support for Operation Iraqi Freedom" listed quotes, from presidents, prime ministers and other high ranking government officials of various countries, which supported America's decision to invade Iraq.
The information was faxed to the Express yesterday by Stacey Rose-Blass, public affairs officer of the US Embassy in Port of Spain.
Also sent to the Express was a release entitled Iraq Misinfo-rmation/Disinformation Alert #2 which stated that coalition forces did not bomb the tomb of revered Muslim scholar, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jailani, in Baghdad. "The US military has an extensive no-strike list," it stated.
—PB
Caricom to renew stanD against war
By Rickey Singh,
THE Caribbean Community is expected to release today a second statement on the current war on Iraq, as a follow-up to its original unanimous position on this international issue of concern stated on February 15 in Port of Spain.
Today's statement, a draft of which was being finalised by Caricom ambassadors at the United Nations yesterday in New York, is likely to be made by Jamaica on behalf of the 15-member Community.
This statement is expected to reaffirm Caricom's opposition to the war against Iraq without the endorsement of the UN Security Council. It will coincide with today's session of the Security Council which started yesterday.
Jamaica's Prime Minister, PJ Patterson, has lead responsibility among Caricom heads of government for the Community's external trade and economic negotiations, and often speaks on issues of international importance to the region.
This second statement will come against the background of a controversial "diplomatic note" sent by the US State Department to some governments of Caricom whose countries are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The NAM had discussed at its recent summit in Malaysia to collaborate on an initiative for a special session of the UN General Assembly to address the implications for peace and security of war on Iraq without endorsement of the UN Security Council.
Since then, the war has been raging with disastrous human consequences over the past week.
In addition to the "diplomatic note" sent by the US to some Caricom governments, there has also been reported pressure to get others to make statements that could justify some measure of support for the action taken to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.
While Caricom ambassadors to the UN were finalising the draft of the statement to be made today, a statement was released by Prime Minister Lester Bird of Antigua and Barbuda in St John's.
He said his administration "regretted that concerted diplomatic efforts failed to bring about the desired progress" in getting Iraq to comply with the UN Resolution (1441) for the "complete and unconditional disarmament of Iraq..."
This, said one Caricom diplomat, was "a surprising variation" of the "spirit" of the original unanimous statement issued last month by the Community leaders.
"But he also noted that Bird's statement did "urge all countries to remain steadfast in their commitment to, and support for the United Nations".
The original Caricom statement had raised concern over the "legitimacy" of going to war with Iraq without UN sanction.
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