US may abandon UN effort

11.50am

UNITED NATIONS - The United States says it might abandon its search for a UN Security Council majority to authorise a looming invasion of Iraq, as its diplomatic efforts suffer new setbacks.

Still lacking Security Council support for a resolution that would give Iraq a few more days to satisfy its disarmament demands, the White House said today that diplomatic efforts could spill over into next week.

But Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington could also pull the resolution, co-sponsored by Britain and Spain, and wage war under the authority of previous UN votes at the head of a "coalition of the willing."

"The options remain, go for a vote and see what members say or not go for a vote," Powell told a US congressional committee. "But ... all the options that you can imagine are before us and (we will) be examining them today, tomorrow and into the weekend."

With over 250,000 American and British troops poised to invade Iraq, President George W. Bush maintains he will launch a war without UN backing if necessary. He added to the US firepower Thursday, sending B-2 stealth bombers to the region.

But Bush's main ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair, is desperate for a UN resolution that could shore up his crumbling political base in the face of strong anti-war sentiment in the Labour Party and in the country.

France repeated its opposition to giving Saddam any ultimatums and said it was prepared to kill any such resolution by using its veto.

Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "It's not a question of giving Iraq a few more days before committing to the use of force. It's about making resolute progress towards peaceful disarmament, as mapped out by inspections that offer a credible alternative to war."

As the confrontation deepened, a tone of real bitterness crept into US-French exchanges. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said France had rejected the latest British proposals even before Iraq did.

"If that's not an unreasonable veto, what is?," he said.

Britain offered a new concession by offering to drop a demand for President Saddam Hussein to appear on Iraqi television and own up to past illegal weapons programs.

Britain, council diplomats said, also was willing to give a substantial extension to the ultimatum in the current resolution giving Saddam until March 17 to show he was ready to disarm. But the United States objected to anything more than a "very, very" modest extension.

If they could get the nine votes, Bush and Blair would be likely to argue they had a moral victory and mandate to conduct the war, even if the resolution were vetoed.

UN ambassadors were holding more consultations on Thursday. A session Wednesday evening had been so contentious that one UN diplomat said there was now only a 50-50 chance any resolution could be salvaged.

"Monday is the absolutely outside date for a vote. And the longer one spends discussing it, the less time there is for Saddam Hussein to comply," the diplomat said.

In Baghdad, a diplomatic source said Iraq would send a report its disposal of VX nerve agent to United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Friday and another report on anthrax a few days later.

The United States and Britain say Iraq has failed to account for hundreds of tons of the deadly agents which they believe it produced in the 1980s. Iraq said it destroyed all its stocks in 1992 but has so far failed to provide documents or witnesses.

In another blow to Washington, Guinea, one of six undecided nations on the 15-member Security Council, announced on state radio that it might abstain.

Chile, another undecided nation, also remained unconvinced by British-American entreaties. President Ricardo Lagos was asked on Thursday to confirm reports he would side with the US He answered, "No, that is not true."

So far, only the United States, Britain, Spain and Bulgaria support the resolution.

Apart from Chile and the African nations, Pakistan and Mexico remain uncommitted. Russia, France, China, Germany and Syria are opposed and a veto from any of the first three would kill the resolution.

On Wednesday, Britain laid out six new conditions for Iraq to fulfil. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri called the British idea, "an aggressive plan for war."

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said Blair had told him "the French have become completely intransigent" with their veto threat and war was now more probable.

- REUTERS