JAMAICA last night told the UN Security Council to push for a cease-fire in Iraq to head off a potential massacre of innocent civilians and at the same time, told the United States and Britain that their doctrines of pre-emptive strike and regime change had no place in international relations.

“The Security Council must remain the source of legitimacy for any collective action and it should not be compromised or undermined by any new doctrines or policies inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations,” the island’s UN ambassador, Stafford Neil, said at a special session of the council.

This was a pointed reference to America’s new policy position of its right to attack states which it believes could pose a threat to the United States — a doctrine which critics say the world’s lone superpower could employ with impunity at the slightest whim.

Yesterday’s sitting of the Security Council was called by Arab nations in an effort to force a halt to the week-old war in Iraq, launched by America and Britain to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein.

US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed that Saddam defied UN resolutions calling for the disarming of Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and started the war unilaterally when they failed to get Security Council backing for an invasion.

Neil repeated Jamaica’s position that “there was a viable alternative to war” and called for the peaceful disarmament of Iraq by the UN weapons inspection process.

But it was not only Iraq, but all countries, which should comply with UN resolutions, Jamaica stressed — a declaration that is likely to be interpreted as a sling at Israel over its long defiance to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories and the double standard of the United States regarding its attitude to its Jewish ally.

“Regrettably, there was a resort to the use of force (in Iraq), and what we are now seeing are the harsh realities, death and destruction caused by military conflict,” Neil said.

Among the UN’s primary role, in the circumstance, Neil said, was to “exert its influence to bring about a cease-fire to end what could become a massacre of innocent Iraqis”.

“Jamaica believes that it is never too late for peace,” he added. “We therefore urge the Security Council to remain engaged and to take bold steps to achieve a cessation of hostilities and spare the peoples of the world the horrors of continued war.”

Kingston’s position is unlikely to have been welcomed by the United States and Britain whose leaders have insisted that they will not stop until the destruction of the Iraqi regime is achieved.

They are likely to be further miffed today when Jamaica and other Caribbean countries reaffirm Caricom’s opposition to the Iraqi war without the backing of the Security Council.

Caricom is expected to issue the statement today despite last week’s urging by Washington to stay away from a proposed special sitting of the General Assembly to discuss the war that if they don’t, to vote against any resolution criticising US action.

However, Neil, in last night’s statement, underlined Jamaica’s historic relationship with the US and Britain, which was underpinned by shared values of freedom, and argued that it was that friendship which obliged Kingston to speak out.

“Our position also comes from a concern about the implications for the future of the multilateral system and for the realisation of ideals of collective security under the Charter, the rule of law and our collective search to achieve a higher destiny for man,” he said.