UN, US meet to discuss Iraq

WASHINGTON - The White House and United Nations officials were meeting on Friday to renew efforts to forge a common front on Iraq.

The meeting follows a threat by United States President George W Bush to bypass the global body if it failed to force Baghdad to disarm.

Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector in charge of accounting for Iraq's chemical, biological and ballistic weapons, and Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, were coming to Washington for talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The US Senate was also resuming debate on Friday on Bush's demand for authority to launch a possible US strike on Iraq, which Congress was expected to grant overwhelmingly even as some lawmakers moved to trim the scope of the war powers.

But Bush faced increased resistance from key UN Security Council members to military action against Iraq, which Washington accuses of amassing weapons of mass destruction.

But UN arms inspectors signalled on Thursday they would delay their initial inspections in Iraq until the Security Council completed work on a resolution proposed by Washington and backed by Britain that could pave the way for a possible US-led war against Iraq.

"We are ready to go but we have not booked our tickets yet," Blix told Swedish SR public service, referring to the delay.

The White House has sharply denounced the rules under which Iraq agreed on Wednesday to allow a return of UN arms inspectors. Spokesman Ari Fleischer said the inspectors would be "nothing more than tourists" without a tough new UN resolution.

The inspectors had wanted to send advance teams to Baghdad on October 19. But after briefing the Security Council on Thursday, they made clear they would hold off if the council did not adopt a resolution before then as Washington and London want.

Washington and London insist in their proposed resolution on setting out wide powers for the inspectors. The measure would allow UN members, such as the United States, to decide when to carry out any military action should Baghdad not comply.

Russia, China and France - all veto holders in the UN Security Council - have dug in their heels against the proposal.

Blix and ElBaradei reached agreement on many arrangements for the return of the UN inspectors in talks with Iraqi arms experts in Vienna this week. The inspectors have been out of Iraq since 1998.

Blix said one "loose end" in the Vienna talks was Iraq's not being able to guarantee the safety of inspectors working in "no-fly" zones in the north and south of the country, which are patrolled by US and British planes that have bombed Iraq military targets in response to attacks.

He said that issue would be raised in the talks with Powell.

"We hope to hear something about what their planning is and we will tell them about our planning," Blix said.

As the debate in the US Congress opened on Thursday night, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said he expected "a broad bipartisan consensus" by the time the Senate and the Republican-led House of Representatives voted on the measure next week.

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, said the resolution "will lead to a safer world" and "sets in motion the beginning of the end of (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein and all he stands for".

Sen. Robert Byrd disagreed, calling the resolution "a product of presidential hubris". Casting the only vote against a procedural motion to consider the resolution, the West Virginia Democrat said, the "newly bellicose mood that permeates this White House ... is clearly motivated by campaign politics".

Bush said he would lead a coalition against Iraq if Saddam failed to surrender his chemical, biological and nuclear arsenals.

The president has demanded Iraq dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programmes, submit to unrestricted arms inspections, and meet the terms of past UN resolutions.

"The choice is up to the United Nations to show its resolve. The choice is up to Saddam Hussein to fulfill his word, and if neither of them acts, the United States in deliberate fashion will lead a coalition to take away the world's worst weapons from one of the world's worst leaders," Bush said.

Under the US draft, Iraq has 30 days "prior to the beginning of inspections" to declare all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, nuclear and ballistic weapons.

Any "false statements or omissions" in Iraq's declaration would constitute a further "material breach" of its obligations and any UN member could use "all necessary means" against Baghdad - a diplomatic euphemism for military action.

The US draft says the inspectors can interview anyone they wish, such as scientists and government officials, and take them and their families out of the country, if necessary. They can inspect anywhere, including Saddam's palace compounds without advance notice.

Inspectors would have the right to declare no-fly and no-drive exclusion zones on the ground or in the air.

Bush's ally in Europe, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, urged the international community to stop sending "mixed signals" and demanded that Saddam open up his sprawling palaces to scrutiny by weapons inspectors.

"It is no good allowing inspectors access to 99 percent of Iraq if the weapons of mass destruction are actually located and stored ... in the remaining 1 percent," said Blair.

- REUTERS

Further reading
Feature: War with Iraq

Iraq links and resources