Iraq scraps more missiles

12.00pm

WASHINGTON - Threatened with a March 17 deadline to disarm, Iraq has scrapped more of its banned missiles in a process President George W. Bush dismissed as a charade that would not save it from war.

A draft UN resolution submitted on Friday by the United States, Britain and Spain setting the new deadline is the subject of frenetic diplomatic haggling this weekend.

If the resolution fails to win the backing of the Security Council, Washington has said it could lead a "coalition of the willing" without UN approval to disarm Iraq.

UN military observers on the Iraq-Kuwait border said they were withdrawing civilian staff to Kuwait City for their own safety in view of a possible US invasion of Iraq.

"We are doing this as a protective measure for their safety in view of the situation," said Daljeet Bagga, spokesman of the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM).

He told Reuters that UNIKOM had begun removing on Saturday some of its 230 civilian UN staff from their residential quarters in the demilitarised zone that runs the length of the 200 km (130 mile) land border. He said more would go on Sunday.

More than 200,000 troops are in the region and ready to strike. Gates wide enough to allow a column of tanks to pass are being installed in a fortified fence between Kuwait and Iraq.

Czech and Slovak troops with vehicles which can detect chemical or biological agents began patrolling Kuwait in case of attack from Iraq. The soldiers have equipment to decontaminate up to 1,000 people per hour.

Iraq maintained its defiant rhetoric. President Saddam Hussein and top officials issued a statement demanding the Council denounce the United States and Britain as "liars" and lift sanctions on Iraq.

Bush said that as Iraq was crushing some al-Samoud 2 missiles, it was covertly making more. "These are not the actions of a regime that is disarming. These are the actions of a regime engaged in a wilful charade," he said in a radio address.

"As a last resort, we must be willing to use military force."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said war could still be avoided and the draft resolution could get through the Security Council, despite bitter opposition from some members who want weapons inspectors to be given more time in Iraq. He called on the 15 states to "face up to our responsibilities".

US diplomats say the vote could come on Tuesday or later. A crucial motor of the diplomatic pace is the military's desire to attack before soaring early summer temperatures in the Gulf make fighting in chemical and biological protection suits especially arduous.

France, Russia and China, who hold veto power in the Council, maintained their opposition to any new resolution which would implicitly or explicitly authorise military action.

Paris reinforced its call for Bush to attend next week's UN vote on war against Iraq, insisting leaders take responsibility for a "life or death" decision.

The move came as Paris said it was sending Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on a whistle-stop tour of three African Security Council member nations from Sunday to urge them to reject the draft resolution.

"When you decree life or death, it should be done at the highest level of responsibility," a source close to President Jacques Chirac said of a vote expected next Tuesday or soon after.

"Given the importance of the decision, it seems legitimate that it is taken by heads of state and government," the source said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov hinted Moscow might use its veto. "Russia will do everything not to allow this resolution in the UN Security Council," he said.

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov called it an "unjustified ultimatum".

The revised draft resolution reads: "Iraq will have failed to take the final opportunity...unless on or before March 17, 2003, the Council concludes that Iraq has demonstrated full, unconditional, immediate and active cooperation with its disarmament obligations."

Modifying the resolution by extending the deadline for Iraqi compliance was intended to win over undecided nations Chile, Pakistan, Mexico, Angola, Cameroon and Guinea.

Pakistan and Angola expressed immediate scepticism. Chile's Socialist President Ricardo Lagos said on Saturday he had already told Bush the March 17 deadline was too tight and inspectors needed months more.

Analysts say US promises of economic aid to the "undecided" may succeed where argument has so far failed.

Bush has vowed to take military action with or without UN approval. But going to war without UN endorsement would inflame a global anti-war movement and threaten the political future of key allies, such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Lobbying of Council members by Washington is expected to be intense in coming days. In an effort to prevent the United States winning the minimum nine votes needed for adoption of a resolution, Villepin plans quick trips to Guinea, Cameroon and Angola.

Meanwhile Five members of the British government have said they will resign if Prime Minister Tony Blair goes to war against Iraq without a second UN resolution.

The Sunday Telegraph said five parliamentary private secretaries - the first rung on the government ladder - would be ready to step down. Three of them were aides to cabinet ministers and all were members of parliament.

"There is a point where you have to decide whether this is right or wrong. This is about upholding the authority of the UN," said Michael Jabez Foster, who works with Attorney General Lord Goldsmith.

The United States and Britain are sponsoring a UN Security Council resolution to give Iraq an ultimatum to destroy any banned weapons by March 17 or face war. Washington has vowed to attack Iraq with or without UN approval.

Many parliamentarians in Blair's Labour Party are alarmed by the proposed ultimatum and have already warned of an even bigger rebellion than last week's protest in which 122 Labour MPs voted against Blair's tough policy on Iraq.

Backbench member of parliament Barbara Follett said that acting without a second resolution would fatally weaken an already divided United Nations and compromise the government's legitimacy.

Blair also faces fierce public opposition to war on Iraq. On Saturday, thousands of peace protesters took to the streets across the country.

At least 10,000 people protested in the rain-sodden city of Manchester, the largest of several demonstrations organised by the Stop The War Coalition.

Less than a month ago, around one million anti-war protesters marched through central London in the country's biggest ever peace march.

More than 20 people were arrested in Colchester, Essex, after staging a sit-down protest outside an army barracks.

For Blair, the top priority is to rally international backing for the proposed March 17 deadline. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw circulated a revised draft UN resolution on Friday.

"He is focused on the issue of Iraq over the weekend. He will be speaking to various people," a spokesman for Blair told Reuters as the diplomatic pressure built up.

- REUTERS