The United States yesterday prepared what may be its last diplomatic mission to win a peaceful resolution to the stand-off with Iraq over United Nations arms inspections.
The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, was to leave late last night for Europe and the Middle East to discuss with US allies a "strong international response to Iraq's continued defiance" of UN resolutions, the State Department said.
President Clinton, in Tuesday night's State of the Union address before Congress, warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein: "You cannot defy the will of the world."
Iraq has barred UN inspectors from a number of so-called "presidential" sites which they suspect are linked to development of chemical or biological weapons, and has refused to co-operate with an inspection team headed by an American. The US warned this week that time was running out for a diplomatic solution.
Ms Albright will fly to Paris today to meet French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine,, then on to Madrid to see the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov, tomorrow and Britain for talks with the Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, on Saturday. After that she will visit Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, returning to Washington on February 3rd.
Of the key allies, Britain has made clear it would support Washington in military action. The Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said yesterday that Saddam must be "stopped - and stopped soon".
But Russia and France oppose force. Mr Primakov and Mr Vedrine, who met in Paris yesterday, both said they favoured diplomatic means, and Mr Vedrine said that force was "not desirable in the current situation".
Bolstering the US position, the Central Intelligence Agency Director, Mr George Tenet, told Congress yesterday that the CIA had concluded Iraq was continuing to hide deadly weapons-production gear and material from UN inspectors.
Analysts say they do not doubt that Washington will resort to military solutions in the end if the Iraqi leader continues to hold out. Republican leaders have said they will support Mr Clinton if it comes to force of arms.
Presidential and State Department spokesmen have scoffed at suggestions that Mr Clinton's judgment will be swayed one way or the other by the current furore in Washington over his alleged affair with a White House intern.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, said his country is considering taking the US to the International Court of Justice in the Hague over its threats of a military strike.
"We are considering suggestions we received from different friends that we should go to the International Court of Justice in order to complain against the American military threats and seek the arbitration and advice of this international body," Mr Sahhaf told a press conference.
Mr Sahhaf said the crisis over UN weapons inspections had been "fabricated" by Washington and the US had no right to launch any attack in the name of the Security Council.
France has strongly criticised the chief UN arms inspector, Mr Richard Butler, for saying that Iraq had enough biological material to destroy Tel Aviv.
"Mr Butler is not sticking to his role by making such statements. . .his comments do not conform with the information UNSCOM gave the Security Council," a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said.