The o­ngoing war against Iraq will serve as a reminder to North Korea that the international community will not tolerate any abuse of weapons of mass destruction, said the Australian High Commisioner to Malaysia James Wise.

He made the connection during an interview with malaysiakini today, while elaborating o­n the reasons why Australia has sent more than 2,000 troops to join the US-led alliance in the war o­n Iraq.

Nuclear threat

In October last year, the US revealed that North Korea had admitted having a secret nuclear programme which violates a 1994 agreement. The super power then cut off fuel shipments to Pyongyang which was provided under the same 1994 deal.

The situation deteriorated when North Korea expelled UN nuclear inspectors and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Wise said his government believes the failure to make Iraq comply with its international responsibility to disarm will o­nly encourage North Korea to further develop its nuclear-arms programme.

"That is o­ne of the main reasons why we supported the war. If the international community does not deal effectively with weapons of mass destruction, Iraq, North Korea will become bolder to go ahead," he said.

Language of force

Asked whether there would be another war if North Korea continues to ignore international demands to end its involvement in nuclear arms, Wise said that there is still room for negotiations as the matter is relatively quite new.

"No o­ne wants a war. We will concentrate o­n the negotiations at the moment to persuade North Korea to return to our fold. We want to ensure that our region is safe from rogue states that can abuse weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Another reason why Australia supported the war against Iraq was to ensure that the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq do not fall into the hands of international terrorists.

"We believe that this war will succeed in disarming Iraq. It is the absence of co-operation o­n Iraqi's part that led to the war. When Iraq has a more responsible government, the disarmament issue will be resolved," he said.

Asked why Australia did not give the UN inspectors the six months it needed to seek the weapons in Iraq before attacking the state, Wise said he believed that the extra time would not have achieved any positive results.

"The o­nly language that Saddam Hussein understands is the language of military force. The UN inspectors were o­nly allowed back into Iraq because the US, UK and Australia were prepared to demonstrate that it would use military force. It has been dodging from taking full responsibility for 12 years," he said.

Strong basis

As to the allegation that the war against Iraq is illegal, Wise said his government has received proper legal advice that showed a strong basis to support the action of force.

He said a total of 17 resolutions passed by the UN calling o­n Iraq to comply with international resolutions - the fundamental resolutions are Resolutions 678, 687 and 1441.

"Resolution 678 stated that the international community would use all necessary means if Iraq does not withdraw from Kuwait which led to the 1990 Gulf War," he said.

"Then 687 was o­n the ceasefire (of the 1990 Gulf war) which compelled Iraq to surrender its weapons - but it had not done that and so, the cease fire was no longer operative.

"The final resolution -1441- made it clear to Iraq that it was given o­ne final chance to disarm or face serious consequences. Yet it did not take that chance."

Asked to explain why the Israel-Palestine crisis did not receive as much attention from Australia when Israel too has its share of weapons of mass destruction, Wise replied that unlike Palestine, the Iraq crisis falls under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter which supports the use of force.

"Since Palestine is not a Chapter 7 resolution, parties have to find a solution via negotiations," he added.

The ambassador said Australia remains committed to negotiation efforts by the international community to find a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.