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US, UK remain under fire
04/06/2003 09:12 - (SA)
London - The aftermath of the Iraq war continued to dog Washington and London on Wednesday after leaders of major industrialised nations agreed to work together to help the country.
The pledge by the just-ended Group of Eight summit in Evian, France, to cooperate in creating a stable, democratic society in Iraq came as British lawmakers vowed to probe the decision to go to war.
The British department of defence meanwhile confirmed military police were investigating the deaths of two men in custody in Iraq. Reports said the two were in the custody of soldiers from Britain's Black Watch regiment and died in separate incidents on May 13 and May 18.
And in what appeared to be a separate incident, defence officials said two British troops were ordered out of Iraq after allegations that prisoners of war were beaten.
In Washington, a leading Republican representative dismissed mounting calls for a probe into possible US intelligence failures in assessing Iraq's weapons programmes on Tuesday.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said the calls for congressional hearings were being made by "detractors who want to undermine the successful war".
DeLay said those advocating a congressional probe are, for the most part, George W Bush's political adversaries who are merely interested in "playing politics".
"They just can't accept the fact that the president through his moral leadership is right in the war on terror, and he was right going into Iraq," the Texas legislator said.
Back in London, war opponents were also making political hay. A powerful parliamentary committee decided late on Tuesday to probe Britain's decision to go to war in Iraq, amid claims the government had embellished intelligence on weapons of mass destruction to justify the conflict.
The decision by the House of Commons foreign affairs committee followed growing demands from deputies for an independent inquiry into allegations Prime Minister Tony Blair's office exaggerated intelligence reports to make Saddam Hussein's regime appear more menacing.
In Baghdad, US administrator Paul Bremer and UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello agreed they would work together to help Iraq recover from nearly three decades of dictatorship and war.
Before adjourning their Evian meeting, the G8 leaders set aside the rancor generated by the debate over whether to unseat Saddam long enough to express their unity over Iraq's reconstruction.
"Our shared objective is a fully sovereign, stable and democratic Iraq, at peace with its neighbors and firmly on the road to progress," they said in a final statement from their three-day summit.
French President Jacques Chirac however could not resist again taking aim at the US-led invasion, repeating his view that it was illegal.
"I didn't approve of it and I still don't approve of it," he said. "One can possibly make war alone, but one cannot make peace alone."
Blair and Bush continue to insist Iraq had to be stopped from developing banned nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, though little evidence of these weapons programmes has emerged. The lack of evidence has increased the pressure on the two leaders' justifications for war.
"If they don't find anything, obviously there are going to be lots of questions," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.
In Baghdad, Bremer and Vieira de Mello met for the first time and pledged cooperation on the road to Iraq's recovery.
"We had a very good first meeting on the wide range of issues in which we can work together to create a democratic independent and peaceful Iraq. We have a very good sense of mutual mission," Bremer said.
Vieira de Mello nodded agreement, saying: "We share the same goal which is to empower the free people of Iraq as soon as possible." - Sapa-AFP
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