New US, UK resolution says Iraq failed to disarm

10.00am

UNITED NATIONS - The United States and Britain circulated a new UN resolution on Monday (NYT) that sets the stage for war with Iraq by declaring Baghdad had failed to take advantage of its final opportunity to disarm peacefully.

But no vote on the document was expected for two weeks at the Security Council, where most members at this stage oppose a swift move to war.

The move opened an intensive period of diplomacy. France and Germany came out strongly against a new resolution and a shift to a "logic of war", circulating a rival proposal which would extend UN inspections for at least four months.

The 12-paragraph draft resolution, obtained by Reuters, does not have a deadline and says simply that the Council "decides that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it in resolution 1441."

Resolution 1441, adopted on November 8, 2002, gave Iraq a last chance to disclose any weapons of mass destruction programmes or be in "further material breach" of its obligations.

The new resolution, to be introduced formally later on Monday, also has a preamble of 11 paragraphs quoting liberally from Resolution 1441, which threatened "serious consequences" if Iraq did not disclose all its weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq denies it has any such weapons and says it is cooperating with UN weapons inspectors.

France, which has led the anti-war opposition that has strong support throughout the world, floated a "memorandum," which would lengthen UN weapons inspections by about four months. Germany, Russia and China back the proposals.

It would bring in additional inspectors, give them more sophisticated equipment and require them to report on their progress to the council every three weeks.

In Berlin, French President Jacques Chirac said after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder: "We see no reason in this context to change our logic, which is a logic of peace, and to switch to a logic of war."

So far the only members who openly support the United States and Britain are Spain and Bulgaria. Others have spoken in favour of France's position for continuing arms inspections or are uncomfortable in having to make a decision.

The United States and Britain are aiming at getting the minimum nine votes needed for adoption in the 15-nation Security Council and then dare France, Russia or China to use its veto power and kill the draft.

President George W Bush said the UN's future was at stake. "It's a moment to determine, for this body that we hope continues, to determine whether or not it is going to be relevant as the world confronts the threats of the 21st century," he said at the White House."

Bush's spokesman appeared to stiffen the rhetoric against Baghdad, reviving the US goal of "regime change" in Baghdad, meaning the ousting of Saddam, which is not mentioned in any UN resolution.

"The only issue the president is concerned with is the total and complete disarmament of Iraq and regime change in Iraq," spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

Before the resolution is adopted or rejected Iraqi President Saddam Hussein faces a test on whether or not he will destroy dozens of missiles by March 1 as ordered on Friday by chief UN inspector Hans Blix.

Destruction of the Al-Samoud 2 missiles, which have a range that exceeds UN limits, would be a blow to Iraq as it prepares for a possible invasion by US forces.

If it does not destroy them, the United States and Britain could use this as proof Iraq is not cooperating with the United Nations, showing that war is justified.

On Monday, Blix knocked down Iraqi hopes for a continuing dialogue with the United Nations on the missiles.

"We have set a date for the commencement of the destruction of these missiles and we expect that to be respected," he told reporters. Iraq had asked for another meeting with the inspectors on the issue.

In Baghdad on Monday, General Amer al-Saadi, a top adviser to President Saddam Hussein, told reporters, "This is a technical issue and it is not actually considered a hurdle. If the goal is to continue on the legal path, which is through the Security Council, Iraq has no objections to deal with the issue realistically."

Blix said earlier Iraq's Al-Samoud 2 missiles exceeded by 33km the 150km range set by the UN Security Council in a 1991 resolution.

He plans to deliver on Monday and on Tuesday a list of more than 30 unresolved questions about Iraqi disarmament to his advisory board, called a College of Commissioners and composed of some 16 government officials and technical experts from around the world.

After meeting the commissioners, Blix will submit a written report to the Security Council by Saturday. That report is expected to be followed by an oral presentation to the council tentatively scheduled for March 7.

The United States has been sending senior officials to lobby council nations. Two have already visited Mexico and another went to Africa to talk to officials in Angola, Cameroon and Guinea.

At the same time Bush has been making telephone calls to his counterparts in various nations, including Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, whose government has publicly leaned toward the French position but is still undecided.

- REUTERS