New resolution set to be tabled next week
Britain and America are expected to table a new United Nations resolution next week intended to give the international green light for military action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell today told reporters in Washington that they intended to put down a draft resolution in the Security Council “in the very near future”.
It is expected that the text will be tabled some time next week, before chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix delivers his latest report to the Security Council next Friday.
At the moment it appears unlikely that it will actually be debated and voted on next week.
However it is thought that London and Washington will not want to wait until March 14 – the date being proposed by the French for Dr Blix to present a further report.
It means that the crunch decision on military action could come in the first week of March.
Mr Powell said discussions were continuing on the exact wording of the new resolution.
Officials were thought to be considering whether it should simply declare Iraq in “material breach” of its obligations to disarm under resolution 1441, or whether it should call explicitly for “serious consequences” – diplomatic code for military force.
Diplomats have also not ruled out including an ultimatum setting a final deadline for Saddam to give up his weapons of mass destruction.
The strength of the wording is likely to depend on how much support Britain and the US believe they have in the 15-member Security Council.
Altogether they need nine votes if the resolution is to be passed.
However they face stiff opposition led by France and Russia, both permanent members of the council able to veto any new resolution.
In a speech tomorrow to the Royal Institute for International Affairs in London, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will remind opponents of war that they are committed to enforcing the will of the Security Council.
“UN inspectors would not be in Iraq today without the threat of force. But inspectors cannot achieve containment without cooperation. And, if cooperation is denied, the UN Security Council has already decreed that force must be used,” he was expected to say.
Mr Powell acknowledged that they could face a struggle, but signalled America’s determination to secure UN backing.
“We still believe that a resolution is appropriate. We are working on such a resolution and we don’t put down a resolution unless we intend to fight for that resolution,” he said.
In Moscow, Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov complained that the weapons inspectors were coming under pressure to declare Iraq was in material breach of resolution 1441.
“According to our information, strong pressure is being exerted on international inspectors to provoke them to discontinue their operations in Iraq, as happened in 1998, or to pressure them into coming up with assessments that would justify the use of force,” he said.
The French also were expected to be encouraged by a declaration tomorrow from the controversial Franco-African summit in Paris – attended by Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe – backing their call for the inspectors to be given more time.
