Former UN head calls Iraq war 'illegal'
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 | 10:44 PM ET
CBC News
More Iraq coverage
Even before the strike against Baghdad, Boutros Boutros-Ghali said any U.S.-led invasion of Iraq without specific UN authorization would violate international law.
"This intervention is illegal," he told an audience in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
He believes it also sets a dangerous example. "Other countries may use this argument in the future to intervene on the basis of this precedent."
Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary General of the United Nations from 1992 to the end of 1996, fears the diplomatic struggle, and the failure to reach a consensus in the Security Council, will weaken the UN's ability to play a central role in such future crises.
"I still hope that the UN will be able to overcome this crisis and that the UN will continue to play a role, even if this role is very marginal," he said.
The future role for the UN inside Iraq, he believes, lies with the country's reconstruction, the return of refugees and establishing a more benign regime.
But he admits the international community has a poor record of paying the necessary attention to post-war issues.
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