US intensifies lobbying for UN resolution

1.45pm

UNITED NATIONS - The United States has intensified lobbying of the 10 rotating UN Security Council members in support of a resolution that allows Washington to strike Iraq if it perceives violations.

The draft is not expected to be introduced or circulated until Wednesday or Thursday, leaving open the possibility of revisions by the Bush administration.

"The council needs to set forth in clear terms what Iraq has to do to demonstrate its desire to disarm," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

A resolution needs nine votes in favour for adoption and no veto from the council's five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

US representative James Cunningham and British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock briefed the 10 elected rotating members on the council on Monday before the five veto-bearing nations meet again on Tuesday.

The 10 are Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Guinea, Ireland, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Singapore and Syria.

Of this group, Iraq's neighbour, Syria, has taken a firm position, with its envoy, Fayssal Mekdad, saying,
"in principle we don't think there should be any resolution".

But most countries with seats on the Security Council have reservations about a text that would allow the United States to decide by itself when Iraq has violated provisions in the resolution without awaiting for word from UN arms inspectors, now meeting in Vienna to prepare to return to Iraq after a four-year hiatus.

"The trigger for military action is the main objection," one council envoy said. "On the other hand, most members value their ties with the United States above anything else."

Whether the United States softens this provision depends mainly on France, which has been vocal in stating its opposition and has obtained support from Russia.

"We do not want to give carte blanche to military action," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin wrote in daily newspaper Le Monde.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke by telephone to Villepin on Monday. Over the weekend Powell discussed Iraq as well as violence between Israelis and Palestinians with the foreign ministers of Britain, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and top European Union officials, Boucher said.

France has drawn up its own proposals, not officially circulated, requiring two resolutions before military action.

The first warns that the council would "consider any measure" to ensure Iraq's full compliance with all relevant resolutions after a report by the inspectors of any "serious failure" by Iraq to fulfill its obligations.

This would be followed by a green light for military action, if necessary.

But unlike Washington's, Paris' draft depends on existing resolutions and does not rewrite the ground rules for inspections. Under the detailed American draft, inspectors are to have access to all sites, including President Saddam Hussein's eight palace compounds, mosques and government buildings.

After spelling out the inspectors' rights, the US draft, according to those familiar with the text, says any UN member can use "all necessary means" -- a diplomatic euphemism for the use of force -- to enforce the provisions of the resolution.

The proposed US resolution also:

-- sets a seven-day deadline for Iraq to accept demands in the resolution, after its adoption, and a 30-day deadline for Iraq to declare all its weapons of mass destruction programmes.

-- calls for security forces or guards to protect the inspectors at their base.

-- says any of the five permanent council members can request to be represented on an inspection team.

-- declares Iraq in "material breach" of UN resolutions dating back to a cease-fire measure, adopted in April 1991 after the Gulf War.

-- suggests flight and no-drive-by bans for inspection sites, but this provision is marked "in brackets," or still in doubt.

- REUTERS

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