Kennedy attacks Azores summit

Kennedy attacks Azores summit

Tony Blair's summit with George Bush and Spanish premier Jose Maria Aznar is a "council of despair", Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy told his party's spring conference.

Mr Kennedy said there was no legal basis for military action against Iraq, and warned that conflict risked a humanitarian crisis of "huge proportions".

Of the Azores summit, he said: "I believe that it's too early to give up the hope of a peaceful outcome. But the signs are that President Bush and Tony Blair have decided to abandon that hope."

Any war will cause a refugee crisis of huge proportions - not to mention the dangers of famine and disease

Charles Kennedy

"They say that they're going the extra mile for peace. I don't see how. This meeting looks highly unlikely to go a single extra inch for peace.

"If the President and the Prime Minister were serious about finding a peaceful solution, they'd be talking to Kofi Annan, not to each other."

Mr Kennedy, the leader of the UK's third largest political party, said civilians "have suffered terribly under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship... but war could so easily make their plight so much worse.

"There are no bombs sufficiently sophisticated, sufficiently smart, to avoid causing civilian casualties.

"And bombs aren't the only danger they face. Any war will cause a refugee crisis of huge proportions - not to mention the dangers of famine and disease."

Afghanistan

Mr Kennedy, who stressed he would support British forces if they were pressed into action, accused Tony Blair of betraying the legacy of former Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell, who opposed military action in Suez.

"I've never questioned Tony Blair's sincerity but I do question his judgment," Mr Kennedy told the party faithful in Torquay.

He said that the US had failed to leave behind enough troops in Afghanistan to rebuild the country - showing that their pledges on rebuilding Iraq could not be trusted.

The aim of toppling Saddam Hussein was "thoroughly flawed" and would only boost terror groups, he claimed.

"There is nothing in international law to justify it yet it is increasingly clear that this had been the objective of the Bush administration all along.

"The more the United States pursues this doctrine, the more chance there is it will increase rather than diminish the threat of international terrorism."

Public opinion

Instead, chief weapons inspector Hans Blix must be given more time to disarm Saddam's regime, he argued.

"If the inspectors say they are being refused cooperation then the time might have come for force to be used but not until then," he said.

Even then military action should not take place without a new UN resolution and a Commons vote, Mr Kennedy said.

On Saturday Mr Kennedy also predicted public opinion would not suddenly swing behind war when troops were sent in to battle.

"Even if it is a swift and relatively humanitarian war - and that is a big if - there will be no triumphalism," he said.

"There are genuine divisions in the country. I think a lot of people will remain unpersuaded, although backing our forces."