US fails to convince allies

30/01/2003 08:21 - (SA)

United Nations - Key members of the UN security council said the United States had so far failed to convince them that time had run out for a peaceful resolution to the crisis with Iraq.

At a crucial council meeting on Wednesday, one day after President George W Bush's State of the Union speech, 11 of the 15 members supported giving more time to weapons inspectors to pursue Iraq's peaceful disarmament, council diplomats told The Associated Press.

France, Russia and China, who all have veto power, want more time, as well as Germany, Mexico, Chile, Guinea, Cameroon, Syria, Angola and Pakistan.

Only Bulgaria and Spain backed the United States and Britain in focusing on Iraq's failures rather than continued inspections.

In Washington, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said diplomacy was in its "final phase." US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States would try to help find a haven for Saddam Hussein, his family and close aides if he would agree to go into exile.

"That would be one way to try to avoid war," Powell, who will address the Security Council next Wednesday, said at a news conference.

However, State Department officials said an exile for Hussein was not under serious consideration.

Hussein, in remarks televised on Wednesday in Iraq, said his country "has huge capabilities" and is ready to face a US attack, "destroy it and defeat it."

"When faced with an attack, we always put in our calculation the worst case scenario and we build our tactics on that," the Iraqi leader told military commanders.

At the daylong security council meeting on Wednesday, Britain remained squarely in Washington's camp.

"There are members of the council who are asking for time, but it isn't a matter of time. It's a matter of whether Iraq realises that the game is up, or whether it is trying to keep the inspectors at bay," British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said during a break in the closed door meeting.

US diplomats had hoped Wednesday's meeting would signal increased international support for military action in Iraq. But neither the largely negative reports from weapons inspectors this week nor Bush's Tuesday night address altered the positions of some of America's key allies, including France.

'We should continue inspections'

"The majority of the council thinks we should continue inspections," said French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere. "This is what they think today, and I think it is important to say so."

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said Russia wanted "undeniable proof," that Iraq was rearming and he dismissed reports that Moscow was shifting to a more pro-American stance.

Still, US Ambassador John Negroponte warned that the "the time for decision-making is fast approaching."

He said the United States would conduct intense negotiations, both at the United Nations and between capitals, ahead of the special February 5 council meeting where Powell is expected to present evidence of Iraq's secret weapons programs and links to terrorist groups.

Council diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity said the possibility of a second resolution paving the way toward war was being widely discussed.

The most likely scenario would set a relatively short deadline for Baghdad to meet certain steps to avert war, the diplomats said.

Bush said Tuesday night he would use the "full force and might of the US military" if needed to disarm Iraq.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the top nuclear inspector in Iraq, disputed other comments Bush made on the inspections, including claims that Iraqi intelligence agents are posing as scientists and Iraqi scientists are being coached by Iraqi officials on what to say.

In a wide-ranging interview with AP, ElBaradei stood by his inspectors' findings that aluminum tubes the Iraqis had tried to import were for rockets and not for a nuclear program, as the president asserted in his speech.

ElBaradei said the tubes could be modified for uranium enrichment but that the process would be expensive, time-consuming and detectable.

ElBaradei said it was unlikely his inspectors "could be fooled."

"We know all the scientists from the past and I think our people could easily detect if that person is a scientist or not," ElBaradei said.

Answering questions

ElBaradei and the other chief UN inspector, Hans Blix, spent Wednesday answering questions from security council members regarding their reports on the first 60 days of inspections.

Their differing - but ultimately negative - reports Monday were used by Bush to strengthen arguments for possible war, and could persuade reluctant allies to support military action to disarm Hussein.

In a letter to be published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark, pay homage to the "bravery and generosity of America" in ensuring peace in Europe and make a veiled attack on current dissidents France and Germany.

The letter highlighted divisions among European allies - among them key council members unswayed by the reports and Bush's address.

German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said inspectors should be given "a realistic opportunity to discharge their mandate. Let us not put aside an instrument we only recently sharpened."

Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri dismissed Bush's allegations as "lies" and said his government will fully co-operate with inspectors to show "that these baseless allegations are nothing but fabrications."

In a seven-page letter to the United Nations, Iraq disputed much of the inspectors' claims that Baghdad had placed obstacles in their way and was hiding pertinent information.