US policy in disarray over Iraq

WASHINGTON - The Bush Administration's internal differences over military action in Iraq became glaringly apparent yesterday.

Colin Powell, the cautious-minded United States Secretary of State, said he supported the return of United Nations inspectors as a "first step" towards neutralising Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

Powell's words directly contradicted a series of strongly worded speeches by Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said the time for inspections was over and that a pre-emptive strike was the only viable solution.

Powell told the BBC that Bush was in favour of sending in the inspectors, although he did not necessarily expect that to solve the problem.

"Iraq has been in violation of these many UN resolutions for most of the last 11 or so years. So as a first step, let's see what the inspectors find, send them back in, why are they being kept out," Powell said.

The Secretary of State also acknowledged the need to sell the rationale for war to America's allies. "The world has to be presented with the information, with the intelligence that is available," he said.

"A debate is needed within the international community so that everybody can make a judgment about this." It was not immediately clear if Powell's words reflected a growing hesitation within the Administration - although an Administration spokesman denied any rift.

Meanwhile Time magazine reported yesterday that Powell, said to be frustrated by military hawks, planned to step down at the end of Bush's four-year term.

"He will have done a yeoman's job of contributing over the four years. But that's enough," an aide close to Powell told the magazine.

Powell felt that "I did what my heart told me to do. I got [Bush] here and set him up. I did the best I could do," the aide said.

Only the imminence of a major diplomatic victory, in the Middle East, for example, could convince Powell to stay on if Bush won a second term in 2004.

Mixed signals at the top or not, Iraq is sending envoys to European capitals to rally support against US plans to overthrow its regime.

The move follows a call by European Union Foreign Ministers for diplomacy not war in dealing with Saddam. However they pressed Baghdad to readmit UN weapons inspectors.

Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan announced the plan to send envoys to EU member states after praising the 15-nation bloc for refusing to toe Washington's hard line.

The Washington Post reported that US military officers had warned that a major campaign in the Middle East would place a serious drain on intelligence gathering and special forces units.

The newspaper said that as US troops hunted for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and elsewhere, some military officials were worried that the Administration might be shifting the focus to Iraq too soon.

- AGENCIES

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