The United States and Britain again failed last night to win over neutral nations for a UN Security Council resolution to authorise a war in Iraq.
The White House said it still hoped to persuade six undecided nations on the ouncil to back a resolution giving Iraq a few days to meet the demands or face an invasion.
But last night, US Ambassador Mr John Negroponte and British Ambassador Mr Jeremy Greenstock decided not to bring their resolution to a vote on Friday, pushing the impasse into the weekend on new British compromise proposals aimed at bridging the gap.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said Washington could also pull the resolution, co-sponsored by Britain and Spain, and wage war under the authority of previous UN votes.
"The options remain, go for a vote and see what members say or not go for a vote," Mr Powell told a US congressional committee. "But . . . all the options that you can imagine are before us and [we will] be examining them today, tomorrow and into the weekend".
With over 250,000 US and British troops poised to invade Iraq, President Bush maintains he will begin a war without UN backing if necessary. He added to the US firepower yesterday, sending B-2 stealth bombers to the region.
The latest round of four-hour Security Council consultations last night were again deadlocked, with undecided members trying to come up with their own proposals.
Mexico, Chile, Pakistan and Guinea criticised the resolution and spoke in favour of proposals that would not immediately trigger war, diplomats said.
Mr Bush's main ally, British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair, is desperate for a UN resolution that could shore up his crumbling political base in the face of strong anti-war sentiment in his Labor Party and in the country.
France repeated its opposition to giving Saddam any ultimatums and said it was prepared to veto any such resolution.