US: We have the proof we need

WASHINGTON - The United States, furiously lobbying members of the United Nations Security Council to vote for war, claims to have found Iraq's "smoking gun" - a large unmanned aircraft.

The US and Britain claim a reference to the aircraft was left out of UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix's latest oral report to the Security Council.

Washington and London intend to demand that Blix reveal more details of the aircraft, which has a wingspan of 7.45m and could deliver weapons of mass destruction.

The Times in London yesterday reported that the existence of the aircraft was mentioned in a 173-page document passed around after Dr Blix and chief UN nuclear inspector Mohammed ElBaradei delivered their oral reports to a tense Security Council.

Dr Blix referred to it in his speech to the Security Council on Friday but for reasons he has not explained, he chose not to concentrate on it.

The document says that Iraq may have kept some Scud missiles, 550 mustard gas shells, 350 R-400 bombs capable of chemical and biological warfare and 6500 chemical bombs.

A "strong presumption could be made that about 10,000 litres of anthrax was not destroyed".

The document also says an unmanned drone aircraft with a wingspan wider than Iraq had claimed had been found.

This may be capable of exceeding the UN's 150km maximum range for weapons delivery systems.

The New York Times reported that UN inspectors had also discovered a new variety of rocket apparently designed to scatter chemical or biological agents over large areas.

Iraq contends that it has destroyed all its old chemical warheads, a claim UN weapons inspectors have not verified.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday that he believed the US had a "strong chance" of getting nine or 10 members of the 15-seat council to vote for a resolution setting Monday as the deadline for Iraq to destroy all prohibited weapons or face war.

But he would not be surprised if France blocked the resolution with a veto.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is on a hastily arranged tour of Guinea, Cameroon and Angola, "swing voters" in the Security Council, hoping to persuade them to reject the US-British resolution.

French President Jacques Chirac spoke by telephone to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and sources close to Mr Chirac said the two concluded that, "We have the same approach".

But Time magazine reported yesterday that President Putin had assured President George W. Bush that Moscow would not use its Security Council veto.

A Security Council resolution needs nine votes - and no veto by any of the five permanent members, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - to be adopted.

UN authorisation would help pro-war Governments placate public misgivings - especially in Britain, which has committed 45,000 troops to the war plan.

More than 200,000 American and British troops are in the Gulf region poised to strike.

Washington's closest ally, British PM Tony Blair, lobbied foreign leaders, including Chinese President Jiang Zemin, by phone on Sunday.

Mr Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice are ready to travel as needed to press their case.

The showdown vote could come as soon as tomorrow, and the outcome is far from certain.

A defeat of the resolution is not likely to avert war, as Washington intends to lead a "coalition of the willing" into Iraq with or without UN approval.

The United States so far has the declared support of only Britain and Spain, which co-sponsored the resolution, and Bulgaria.

The war vote

* The Security Council may vote this week on a resolution demanding that Iraq destroy banned weapons by Monday or face war.

* Nine votes - and no veto by any of the permanent members - are needed in the 15-member council to pass the resolution.

For:

US, Britain, Spain, Bulgaria.

Against:

Russia, China, France, Germany, Syria.

Undecided:

Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Mexico, Pakistan, Guinea.

- REUTERS