UN arms chiefs see new Iraqi co-operation, want more

7.00pm

LARNACA, Cyprus - Top UN arms inspectors say Iraq appears to be making fresh efforts to co-operate over banned weapons, but are warning Baghdad it must take drastic action swiftly if it wants to avert war.

France insisted there were still alternatives to military action but US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the march towards a showdown with Iraq had quickened, adding that a pre-emptive strike might save lives in the long run.

US President George W. Bush said the United Nations must soon decide whether to back America's demand that Iraq abandon its alleged chemical, biological and nuclear programmes.

"The UN Security Council has got to make up its mind soon," he told reporters. "I'm confident that they will understand (that the November 8 resolution) must be upheld."

His spokesman said the Bush administration would devote the next two weeks to diplomacy on Iraq but did not indicate whether the period amounted to a deadline for negotiations.

"The standard the president has set is that the second resolution must enforce the first resolution," spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

A Security Council resolution adopted in November ordered Iraq to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programmes and co-operate with UN arms inspectors, or face "serious consequences".

Aware of deep international disquiet over the prospect of war, Iraq bowed to a key UN demand and let inspectors hold private interviews with Iraqi scientists.

The first interview occurred on Thursday. On Friday, Iraq said UN weapons inspectors held private interviews with three more scientists. A foreign ministry statement said the interviews lasted between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.

Inspectors had long pressed for scientists to be interviewed without other Iraqis present to protect informers from reprisal.

On the eve of a key visit to Baghdad, arms inspections chief Hans Blix gave Iraq's move a cautious welcome, but warned Baghdad inspections could only work with "active cooperation from Iraq, not on process but on substance."

Blix's colleague, nuclear arms expert Mohamed ElBaradei, called for a meeting with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein when he and Blix are in Iraq.

"We would be willing to meet with him obviously if he's ready to meet with us," he said. "That would be useful to have a discussion with him and explain to him our needs to make progress."

Iraq is still refusing to allow U2 spy planes to fly over its territory, another key sticking point. The United States wants the planes to monitor suspected sites it alleges are being demolished or doctored by Iraq.

To counter that charge, Baghdad took foreign reporters on Friday to two missile engine test sites Washington says are developing long-range missiles in violation of a UN ban.

Iraq denies it has any weapons of mass destruction or links to al Qaeda, blamed for the September 11 attacks on US cities. And it has vowed to rebut in a letter to the Security Council US allegations it is systematically deceiving UN inspectors.

Blix and ElBaradei must report back to the UN Security Council on February 14: a critical assessment could increase pressure for a new UN resolution to authorise war.

On Thursday Bush said he would support a new UN resolution, although Washington reserves the right to strike without one. The United States on Friday dispatched a fifth aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, to the Gulf to join forces expected to reach 200,000 in late February.

Such preparations have angered some European allies, who have blocked moves by Nato to bolster member Turkey's defences should its neighbour Iraq be attacked.

French President Jacques Chirac told Bush in a telephone call on Friday it was possible to disarm Iraq without resorting to war, his spokeswoman said.

Chirac earlier said "there is still an alternative to war", voicing the widespread scepticism Europeans feels towards any war, doubts shared by China and Russia, like France veto-holding Security Council members.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Moscow would only consider a fresh UN resolution if the inspectors' work was being hampered: "But today there are no grounds to talk about a resolution which would authorise the use of force against Iraq".

While nearly all agree Baghdad has fallen far short of compliance with resolution 1441, fewer Security Council members say Iraq is a big enough threat to warrant war.

Britain's UN ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said he believed a draft second resolution, possibly in the second half of February, would secure a majority of the council's 15 members. British Prime Minister Tony Blair says a veto is unlikely.

Diplomats said a new UN resolution is likely to have a brief deadline, if any, and may fall short of an explicit authorisation of force.

"The world feels a sense of momentum. It's been a long road, 12 years long. We've seen enormous efforts by the international community of a diplomatic nature that have failed," Rumsfeld said in Rome after meeting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

"Not only did those fail, economic sanctions and limited military action have also failed to get him to co-operate."

The September 11 attacks had torn up the old security rule book, he said: "The risk of not acting may be vastly greater than the risk of acting." Rumsfeld later said any war with Iraq was unlikely to last as long as six months.

In contrast to the marked reluctance of Nato states to play a role in any Iraq conflict, Bulgaria on Friday gave US forces transit rights and use of a Black Sea base. Romania said it was considering a formal US request for support.

The UN World Food Programme said it planned to feed almost one million people in the first few months of any war in Iraq.

Herald feature: Iraq