World's press reacts to UK dossier

Newspapers in Britain and abroad devote much space to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to increase the pressure on Baghdad by publishing a dossier outlining Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction programme.

British newspapers are mostly impressed by the Prime Minister's performance at Tuesday's parliamentary debate on Iraq, although he doesn't seem to have changed many minds about whether to use military action against Saddam Hussein.

London has few rivals in the mastery of weapons of mass persuasion

Le Temps, Switzerland

The Daily Mail says it was "Tony Blair at his most convincing and very best", while the Guardian welcomes a "more careful and internationalist approach" that compares favourably with the "simplistic rhetoric" coming out of Washington.

But the pro-government Daily Mirror, while admitting the prime minister was "brilliant", dismisses the government's position as "a defence of the indefensible".

However, its mass-circulation rival, the Sun, calls the evidence presented by Mr Blair "overwhelming" and "- except to the most blinkered minds - irrefutable".

Beyond the UK, European papers appear less susceptible to the Blair message or the British leader's delivery of it.

Indeed the Swiss paper Le Temps identifies London as having "few rivals in the mastery of weapons of mass persuasion".

But "European opinion is less concerned about the evidence against Saddam" according to Le Temps, than about Washington and London's motives for attacking Iraq.

And these motives, it believes, "smell of oil".

Still waiting for proof

Spain's El Pais says Tony Blair's "long-awaited" dossier is "essentially a public relations exercise to support George Bush's position".

Tony Blair promised to surprise the world, but the dossier can hardly be called a sensation

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russia

It argues that the report contains "few new developments" and "even less new proof" that Iraq has the capacity to use weapons of mass destruction.

The paper however gives Mr Blair credit for "recalling parliament at a particularly sensitive time to provide information and hold a debate - something which hasn't happened in Spain".

In Russia, the press is lukewarm in its reaction to the UK Government's dossier.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta says Tony Blair "promised to surprise the world", but the dossier published "can hardly be called a sensation."

Izvestiya describes Mr Blair's speech as "a symbol of Anglo-American unity" and says Tony Blair proved that the US has just one loyal ally. "And that ally is Britain."

In Germany, some newspapers see the British dossier as an opportunity for newly re-elected Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to repair relations with America, which cooled after his campaign pledge that Berlin would not support a US attack on Iraq.

But the Berliner Zeitung sees the British dossier as a means for Chancellor Schroeder to confirm that there is no case for a pre-emptive strike against Iraq.

Arab resentment

No doubt the Blair dossier was also meant to sway sceptical Arab opinion about the US-UK position towards Iraq, but the London-based Saudi-owned al-Sharq al-Awsat was only reminded of what it sees as London's lack of feeling about Arab concerns and aspirations.

What the House of Commons witnessed, affirms once again the reality of the British premier's feelings towards the concerns of the peoples in the region and their aspirations

Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Saudi Arabia

This is "deplorable", the paper says, especially that it comes from a country "that has long tampered with the map of the Middle East and still deals with the region as a map, without people".

Qatar's al-Watan is no more complementary, describing the Blair dossier as a "propaganda document" which only increases the determination of those who seek a peaceful settlement to the Iraq conflict.

The semi-official Egyptian daily al-Ahram meanwhile says the Arabs must now cultivate those who voice opposition in Britain to persuade their leaders to listen to Europe rather than Washington.

Superpower interests

Further afield, the China Daily says - given Mr Blair's raising of the war rhetoric - Saddam Hussein now has one last chance "to deprive the Americans of a legal case him".

Once again, Britain issued information justifying a potential war against a target chosen by the Bush administration

New York Times

So Baghdad must allow itself live under international scrutiny "because of its past aggression", the paper says, but the United Nations must not allow itself to be "hijacked by the interest of individual countries".

In the United States, Tuesday's developments have - perhaps not surprisingly - caused less of a stir, the Bush administration having already been very busy persuading the population of the need to confront Saddam Hussein.

However, the New York Times correspondent notes the pattern emerging of British support for Washington since 11 September 2001.

"Once again, Britain issued information justifying a potential war against a target chosen by the Bush administration, with the purpose of convincing those sceptical of findings attributed to American intelligence sources."

But the Times also notes that the high-profile parliament session that was forced on Mr Blair has given "his most vociferous critics" in the UK a chance to air their grievances before a world audience.