Talks can work if we put aside national pride

THE man who led the drive for peace in Warrington, Colin Parry, says talks can work to solve the crisis in Iraq.

Mr Parry, who lost his son Tim to the IRA, said that although he accepts Saddam Hussein is an evil dictator, there has not been enough evidence to support a war against him and his people.

He said: "Talks can work. If we put aside national pride and personal dislike for people, which is hard to do, then we can be determined to address our differences and tackle those differences.

"If you tackle it in a peaceful way it can make a difference and it does make a difference, and that is what has been proved in Northern Ireland."

Mr Parry said that he felt there had not been enough dialogue between the USA, UK and Iraq in a bid to resolve the situation.

He added: "I cannot help but remember that the west was selling weapons to Saddam Hussein when he was fighting Iran and it is a hypocritical position for us to adopt now.

"The problem we have got when nations are involved is that we almost seem to fall into war rather then look at other options, which I believe can work."