THE US: The US has delayed releasing a full draft of its UN Security Council resolution on Iraq until next week, though a month-long deadlock in the Security Council over the wording seemed closer to being resolved last night.
France and Russia withheld immediate public backing for a US compromise on a text that could trigger war with Iraq, diplomatic sources said.
The US, for its part, apparently accepted language offered by France for a two-stage resolution which would require consultation with the Security Council before action against Iraq in the event of non-compliance with a new weapons inspection regime.
However, it did not show the rest of the text to France and Russia, which have veto powers in the Security Council, as the US wanted "certain principles" agreed first, a diplomat said.
The new US proposals direct the inspectors to "report immediately to the council any failure by Iraq to comply with its disarmament obligations, including its obligations regarding inspections under this resolution", according to reports at the UN. The Security Council would then meet immediately to "consider the situation and the need for full compliance with all of the relevant Security Council resolutions".
In its original draft, the US had said any UN member could "use all necessary means" if it decided Iraq was not in compliance, a euphemism for military attack.
The latest US offer omits this phrase - but French diplomats expressed concern that reference to Iraq being in "material breach" if it violates any UN resolution, could lead to war.
The US used the same legal terminology to take action in Kosovo in 1999 against Serbian forces. French President Jacques Chirac yesterday warned against "temptations of adventure". He told a summit of French-speaking nations in Beirut that "in the modern world, the use of force should only be a last resort".
The two-day open debate at the Security Council this week, at which non-members voiced their views, imparted a strong message to the US and to Iraq, a UN diplomat said.
This was that the US should use all diplomatic means to avoid war and that Iraq should co-operate fully with inspections.
Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov stressed yesterday that the priority was for UN weapons inspectors to return to Iraq for the first time in four years. "We hope the UN Security Council will very soon be able to work out a resolution to allow for the strengthening of the inspectors' mandate and let them leave immediately for Iraq," he said. "If it is decided that tougher measures are needed, including the use of force, then only the Security Council can take such a decision."
France initially pushed for two resolutions, with a second authorising force only if Iraq did not comply with inspections. Washington wanted a single resolution. The US, which seeks "regime change" in Baghdad, had hoped to circulate a new draft resolution yesterday. It was delayed to give what a US official called "one last shot" at reaching agreement.