1.2 |
Development of UK strategy and options, September 2000 to September
2001
107.
Mr Cook stated
that re-establishing inspections “should not be a test of the
success
of our
policy, as this would require Saddam’s agreement”.
108.
Mr Cook and
Secretary Powell also discussed NFZs and agreed that US and
UK
“officials
should meet very soon”. Secretary Powell planned to visit the
region at the
end of
February.
109.
In a
subsequent meeting with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr Cook
said
that he had
agreed with Secretary Powell that the focus should be put back
on
Saddam
Hussein’s responsibility for the suffering of the Iraqi people, and
his interest
110.
Reporting on
his visit to Washington to Cabinet on 8 February, Mr Cook
stated
that the
new foreign policy team in the US was “prepared to explore new
ideas on Iraq,
where they
understood the need to regain the moral high
ground”.63
111.
In the
subsequent discussion, it was pointed out that it was a good time
to review
policy on
Iraq because the UK Government was “losing the propaganda
battle”.
112.
In advance of
Mr Blair’s meeting with Mr Jacques Chirac, the French President,
at
the
UK/French Summit on 9 February, the FCO advised Mr Sawers
that:
“The French
have long argued that the key to enticing Iraq into co-operation
and
moving
forward on sanctions is through ‘clarification’ of SCR 1284. An
important
element of
this would be elaboration of the post-suspension modalities. The
French
are keen to
revive bilateral talks on this topic which started promisingly 18
months
ago but
which tailed off as the US election approached and Iraq was put on
the
113.
The FCO
advised that Mr Blair should take a fairly non-committal line
at
the
Summit.
114.
The Inquiry
has not seen a record of Mr Blair’s discussions with President
Chirac at
the
Summit.
115.
The FCO’s
briefing for Mr Cook’s meeting with Mr Hubert Vedrine, the
French
Foreign
Minister, at the Summit stated that Mr Vedrine was openly hostile
to sanctions,
which he
had described as “cruel and ineffective”, and that he regarded the
NFZs
116.
In their
meeting, Mr Cook encouraged Mr Vedrine to work with the US and the
UK
62
Telegram
135 Washington to FCO London, 7 February 2001, ‘Meeting with Vice
President Cheney,
6
February’.
63
Cabinet
Conclusions, 8 February 2001.
64
Letter
Sedwill to Sawers, 8 February 2001, ‘UK/French Summit, Cahors:
Iraq’.
65
Minute FCO
[junior official] to PS [FCO], 8 February 2001, ‘Iraq: UK/French
Summit: Briefing for
Secretary
of State’ attaching Briefing, [undated], ‘Iraq: UK/French Summit:
Briefing for Secretary of State:
9
February’.
66
Telegram
036 FCO London to Paris, 9 February 2001, ‘Foreign Secretary’s
Tete-a-Tete with French
Foreign
Minister, 9 February’.
211