French President Jacques Chirac says he is "not at all sure" the world
has become safer with the removal from power of Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein. In a BBC interview Mr Chirac suggests the situation in
Iraq has helped to prompt an increase in terrorism. The interview, to
be aired on BBC Two's Newsnight programme on Wednesday, comes ahead of
his visit to the UK this week. President Chirac also maintains that any
intervention in Iraq should have been through the United Nations. "To a
certain extent Saddam Hussein's departure was a positive thing, " Mr
Chirac says when asked if the world is safer now, as US President
George W Bush has repeatedly stated. "But it also provoked reactions,
such as the mobilisation in a number of countries, of men and women of
Islam, which has made the world more dangerous," Mr Chirac says.
"There's no doubt that there has been an increase in terrorism and one
of the origins of that has been the situation in Iraq. "I'm not at all
sure that one can say that the world is safer," Mr Chirac says. [more]
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