Annan to Grill Bush Over “Eroding Rule of Law”

“Those who seek to bestow legitimacy must themselves embody it, and those who invoke international law must themselves submit to it,” Annan was to say in his address before the UN General Assembly later Tuesday, according to his prepared remarks, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“In Iraq, we see civilians massacred in cold blood while relief workers, journalists and other non-combatants are taken hostage and put to death in the most barbarous fashion.

“At the same time, we have seen Iraqi prisoners disgracefully abused,” he would add, drawing a parallel between the Iraq bloodshed and the prisoner scandal in a way destined to irk Bush, who was to due to speak after Annan.

According to leaked excerpts of the speech, Annan was to open this year’s annual debate of world leaders at the United Nations by criticizing Bush’s plan to deliver democracy to Iraq through force in his speech aimed at underlining the importance of the rule of law.

“It is the law, including Security Council resolutions, which offers the best foundation for resolving prolonged conflicts — in the Middle East, in Iraq and around the world.

“All states — strong and weak, big and small — need a framework of fair rules.”

In a bid to reinforce the rule of international law, Annan is to urge the United States and other UN members to embrace a raft of international treaties designed to enforce fair-trade rules, fight terrorism, and combat the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, according to the Washington Post.

“The Bush administration has come under intense criticism at the United Nations for opposing popular international treaties, including a global ban on nuclear tests and an accord to slow the production of emissions that fuel global warming.”

Annan will address the General Assembly less than an hour before Bush takes the podium, and it will be only days after Annan said publicly he considers the US-led invasion of Iraq illegal.

Annan’s top aides, however, insisted that he is not seeking to rehash the dispute over the war’s legitimacy, according to the Washington Post.

“Stirring things up is not his stock in trade,” it quoted as saying a senior UN official who briefed reporters on Annan’s speech. “He is much more concerned about the future of Iraq.”

Bush Defiant

Annan has labored for a year to heal the deep divisions over the Iraq invasion that brought down Saddam Hussein, and his wide-ranging address was to refer to the crisis in Sudan, the Middle East conflict and Russia’s hostage tragedy.

Bush failed to win Security Council backing for the Iraq war and, if Annan’s criticisms were less blunt than those he offered last year, his position remained at odds with Bush’s defense of the war in the fight against terror.

Bush has already indicated he will defend the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a sweeping global campaign to fight terror in the name of freedom.

“Never in the history of the United Nations have we faced so many opportunities to create a safer world by building a better world,” the US president said Saturday, in a preview of his own address.

“For the sake of our common security, and for the sake of our common values, the international community must rise to this historic moment. And the United States is prepared to lead.”