U.S., Britain to Set Deadlines for U.N., Iraq

The United States and Britain will present a resolution to the Security Council “in the next few working days” authorizing the use of military force to disarm Iraq and imposing a deadline for the council to vote on it, U.S. and British officials said Wednesday.

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the draft resolution would also set a cutoff date for Iraq’s compliance, “implicitly or explicitly” to force the Security Council to limit how much longer inspections should continue without Baghdad’s full cooperation.

The resolution, which the Bush administration had been expected to unveil days ago, has been held up by haggling between the U.S. and Britain on its timing and content, as well as by the growing antiwar movement worldwide and opposition within the Security Council. Diplomats said that even this week’s massive storm on the East Coast slowed the pace, with officials slogging through snow-covered streets to reach a secure location to discuss the language.

Council opposition remained strong Wednesday, with key members stiffening their positions. But after a 30-minute phone conversation, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed that a new resolution should compel the council to take action sooner rather than later.

The three basic elements of the proposed resolution are that Iraq is in material breach of U.N. resolutions; that it was given one final chance and failed to fully comply, which amounts to a further breach; and that it is time for members of the international community to move forward with the “serious consequences” spelled out in Resolution 1441, which returned weapons inspectors to Iraq late last year, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell urged Germany and the veto-holding council members who oppose war -- France, Russia and China -- not to be “afraid” to take responsibility for enforcing the U.N. resolutions that call on Iraq to disarm.

“It cannot be a satisfactory solution for inspections just to continue forever because some nations are afraid of stepping up to the responsibility of imposing the will of the international community,” Powell said in an interview with Radio France released Wednesday by the State Department.

Powell confirmed that the process will continue to unfold until chief weapons inspector Hans Blix makes another progress report at the end of the month -- and, Powell hinted, possibly once again in mid-March. But the United States is reluctant to make a decision on a further report from the inspectors, as the French have demanded, until it finds out what the next report concludes, Powell said.

The White House said Wednesday that the tone and content of the resolution are not “finally settled” and that Bush will work closely with allies to press for a resolution acceptable to members of the deeply divided Security Council.

The goal is a “straightforward, simple resolution that enforces Resolution 1441,” White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said.

But the key council members hardened their positions Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed by phone that inspectors should be allowed to continue their work indefinitely, lending weight to France’s stance. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder stood firm. “My opposition to war is fundamental,” he said. “My position hasn’t changed.”

The U.S. and Britain have found resistance from unexpected quarters as well. In a rare or even unprecedented move to block a resolution, several of the 10 nonpermanent Security Council members have said they would abstain on a vote if the U.S. and Britain cannot find common ground with France, Russia and China, which insist that there is not yet enough evidence to justify an attack on Iraq. Syria and Germany are expected to vote against a resolution approving force. If Mexico, Chile, Angola, Pakistan and others abstain, a resolution would not have the nine votes required to pass.

“We don’t have veto power,” said Angola’s ambassador, Ismael Gaspar Martins. “But we do have a power. We do have a voice.”

The rotating members said their interest was not to scuttle a resolution but to pressure the permanent members to agree so as to give a resolution true moral authority.

“We don’t think you can have a resolution if you don’t have consensus in the Security Council,” Chilean Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdes said. “When we argue for time, we argue not simply for more time for the inspectors, but also for time to make progress in the council.”

In an effort to find a neutral solution, several council members have asked Blix to identify unresolved disarmament questions that could be used as tests of Iraqi cooperation. These “benchmarks” could be coupled with an ultimatum -- but not necessarily enshrined in a resolution -- for Iraqi compliance. That would give the council a clear-cut standard on which to base a judgment, diplomats said. Blix met privately with ambassadors from Britain, Germany, France and the United States this week.

One such test could be for Iraq to destroy its Al-Samoud 2 missiles for exceeding the range allowed by the United Nations. Iraq’s ambassador, Mohammed Douri, on Wednesday repeated Baghdad’s denials that the missiles go farther than the 93-mile limit when weighted with a full payload, as a panel of missile experts concluded at the U.N. last week. Iraq is highly reluctant to surrender the missiles on the eve of a possible war.

But neither Blix nor U.S. officials fully endorse the “benchmark” idea. Blix has long said that Iraq is already required to answer unresolved questions about its disarmament, and the danger of providing a specific list is that Iraq may only respond to that list and hold back any other items.

“They could put just enough on the table to keep the process going,” a U.S. official said.

Outside the U.N., Powell and Bush are working at a steady pace behind the scenes to rally support. Bush talked Wednesday with the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad ibn Khalifa al Thani, whose nation is playing a pivotal role in helping the U.S. military, and President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

In an effort to cajole Mexico, Chile and others back into the ring, one of the United States’ staunchest allies on the council, Spain, is stepping in to help. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar will stop in Mexico on his way to Bush’s ranch near Crawford, Texas, on Friday and Saturday to try to persuade Mexican President Vicente Fox to firmly back the U.S. position.

The visit to the ranch, an honor accorded only a few close allies, is designed in part as a reward for Spain’s support in both the U.S.-declared war on terrorism and in the push to confront Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on disarmament.

But even if the U.S. can’t win the Security Council’s support, the White House intends to charge ahead in bringing the showdown with Iraq to a confrontation.

“The question is not whether Iraq will be disarmed. The question is whether the Security Council will remain relevant,” said Richard A. Grenell, the spokesman for the U.S. mission to the U.N.

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Farley reported from the United Nations and Wright from Washington.