As-Saliyah (Qatar): Britain on April 15 told the UN Security Council to forget past
divisions over Iraq and accept the new reality created by the US-led invasion.
"It is the responsibility of all members of the Security Council, but particularly
those with vetos, not to play games, but to recognise this new reality," Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw said at US Central Command's war base in Qatar.
Britain sees a "vital role" in post-war Iraq for the Council, which was bitterly
divided over US and British plans to use military force against Baghdad, Straw
said.
"But that depends on the degree to which others in the Security Council,
particularly the permanent five, show a similarly constructive
approach."
The veto-wielding permanent five members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the
United States – should "instead of arguing about what has been, what might have
been, accept that there is a new reality in Iraq", said Straw.
He was in Qatar on the third leg of a tour of the Gulf after stops in Kuwait and
Bahrain.
