MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 001447 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IRAQ; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "MPs call for Blair to resign: Bush hangs British PM out to dry over Iraqi nuclear claims" the government-controlled daily "The Herald" (07/17) carried the following opinion article by Chris Marsden on page 9: ¶2. "In admitting U. S. doubts over British intelligence reports concerning Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD),the Bush administration has deepened the political crisis of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In particular, Blair has been hit by recent statements from Washington distancing Bush from British reports, exposed months ago as having been based on forged documents, of Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger. . .The willingness of top Bush personnel to hang Blair out to dry in order to save their own necks is a painful reminder for the Prime Minister of the true value attached by the ¶U. S. to the so-called `special relationship.' It has been made clear to Blair that whereas he is considered a useful ally, he is still expendable. The lesson in political duplicity provided by the Bush administration could not have come at a worse time for Blair. It has placed his very political survival in question, with demands being made for his resignation in the face of the continued failure to find any evidence of Iraqi WMDs. . . ." SULLIVAN