Bush targets Arabs with words of hope

WASHINGTON - George W. Bush says a United States-led war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would help to spread hope and democracy across the Middle East.

He was speaking yesterday as a divided UN Security Council prepared to discuss a resolution authorising force against Baghdad.

Pushing his case for war against Iraq, Bush said in a nationally televised speech that the US would lead in destroying Iraq's suspected chemical and biological weapons and provide security "against those who try to spread chaos or settle scores or threaten the territorial integrity of Iraq".

Hours earlier, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq still had not made a "fundamental decision" to disarm, despite recent signs of increased co-operation.

Blix is due to report again to the Security Council on March 7 on progress in tracking down Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, which Baghdad denies having.

The Security Council is due to meet today behind closed doors to discuss a draft resolution, sponsored by Britain, the US and Spain, that lays the groundwork for war by declaring Iraq has failed to meet UN disarmament demands.

No vote on the draft is expected until the second week of March, suggesting no invasion will take place before then. The United States and Britain have amassed about 200,000 troops in the region.

France, Germany and Russia have led opposition to any rush to war, arguing for Blix's inspectors to be given more time.

Public opinion in many countries is strongly against war.

In Bush's speech to the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, he again urged the Security Council to stand firm against Iraqi "defiance".

"If the council responds to Iraq's defiance with more excuses and delays, if all its authority proves to be empty, the UN will be severely weakened as a source of stability and order."

Bush said that in the event of war, the US would act quickly to protect Iraq's oil facilities from sabotage.

"We will remain in Iraq as long as necessary, and not a day more," he said. "A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions."

His speech was partly aimed at answering Arab states and European allies who oppose the prospect of war, fearing it could further destabilise the volatile Middle East.

Leaders of the Arab League's 22 members are to hold a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh at the weekend.

Answering reporters' questions at UN headquarters in New York, Blix said full co-operation on the Iraqi side or a disarmament breakthrough were still lacking.

"I do not think I can say there is evidence of a fundamental decision (to disarm), but there is some evidence of some increased activity," he said.

nte Meanwhile, diplomats at the United Nations said they expected Iraq to begin destroying its al-Samoud 2 missiles by tomorrow as Blix has ordered, a demand supported by all 15 Security Council members.

So far, only four of the nine votes needed for the new resolution to pass in the Security Council are assured, with Bulgaria supporting the United States, Britain and Spain.

Russia, France or China could veto even a majority decision.

France and Germany have distributed proposals to intensify inspections and continue them for at least four more months. These proposals are backed by China and Syria.

Mexico, a council member, showed signs of moving towards the US position under heavy diplomatic pressure from Washington.

In other developments:

* Saddam said in an interview screened by the US network CBS that his country was preparing to defend itself vigorously against a US-led attack.

"We hope that the attack will not take place. But we are bracing ourselves to meet such an attack. To face it," Saddam said on 60 Minutes.

Saddam also said his country did not lose the 1991 Gulf War, that it had never had a relationship with Osama bin Laden or the al Qaeda terrorist group, and that it had no missiles that went beyond the range limits set by the United Nations.


- REUTERS