U.S., Britain ponder new Iraq resolution

Washington - The United States and Britain on Wednesday worked on a new U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq if it fails to heed disarmament demands while Washington pressed ahead with its military buildup despite widespread opposition to war.

In a mammoth United Nations debate, country after country spoke out against a new war in the Middle East and said U.N. inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq should be allowed to continue their work.

President Bush insisted that mass peace protests around the world last weekend had not blunted his determination to disarm Iraq by force if necessary, either with or without a new U.N. resolution.

"Evidently some in the world don't view (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) as a risk to peace. I respectfully disagree," Bush told reporters as Washington ordered 28,000 more troops to the Gulf region, where it has assembled a force of about 250,000.

"War is my last choice, but the risk of doing nothing is even a worse option. ... I owe it to the American people to secure this country. I will do so," said Bush.

In Iraq, aircraft taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked an air defense radar and a rocket system on Tuesday, the U.S. military said in Washington.

The U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Gulf region, said the jets launched precision-guided weapons against a mobile air defense early-warning radar and a mobile multiple-rocket system near Ar Rutbah, about 250 miles southwest of Baghdad.

"The coalition executed today's strike after Iraqi forces moved the mobile radar and missile systems into the southern no-fly zone," the military said.

The last coalition strike came on Monday in the same area against an Iraqi military mobile air defense early warning radar that provided information to the Iraqi air defense network, the U.S. military said.

The no-fly zones were established after the 1991 Gulf War to protect populations in those areas from attack by the Iraqi government.

The United States and its close ally Britain are working on a new U.N. resolution seeking backing for the use of force against Saddam but face opposition in the Security Council.

U.N. endorsement of the use of force against Iraq in a new resolution will allow Washington's key allies to go a long way toward overcoming grave reservations in public opinion at home about the use of preemptive military action.

'SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES'

Resolution 1441, approved last November, threatens "serious consequences" if Iraq refuses to disarm, but many U.S. allies want further U.N. endorsement of any use of force.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, said Washington had not "ruled out putting down a resolution this week (but) we haven't ruled it in yet."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the United States may propose a new resolution as early as this week but possibly next week.

"The timing will be determined as a result of ongoing conversations within our government and our allies," Fleischer said. "I think it's going to be a relatively simple resolution, not very lengthy."

"We are currently in discussions with our partners and friends in the United Nations about the possibility for a second resolution. Obviously, the timing...is part of those discussions," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters in London.

So far most council members support France, which says weapons inspectors must be given more time. The United States and Britain face a struggle getting even the minimum nine votes out of 15 needed for a resolution to be adopted.

Diplomats said they expected any new resolution to follow the language of resolution 1441. London and Washington are also considering putting a set of conditions to Iraq within a tight deadline to disclose any weapons of mass destruction programs.

'REGIME CHANGE'

But an option issuing Saddam an ultimatum to relinquish power is considered unlikely. This would be tantamount to a call for "regime change," that most of the 15 council members would reject as illegal, diplomats said.

In the United Nations debate which was set to continue on Wednesday, Iraq's neighbors spoke out against war in the Middle East and said U.N. inspections should continue.

"All the countries in the region with the exception of Israel are appealing to prevent war on Iraq," said Yahya Mahmassani, the U.N. representative for the Arab League.

The meeting was organized by South Africa, head of the 115-member Non-Aligned Movement of developing countries to give nations without a seat on the Security Council a chance to air their views. Twenty-seven ambassadors spoke on Tuesday and 29 will address the council on Wednesday.

Australia and Japan strongly backed the tough U.S. position, supported in part by Peru and Argentina.

The 23 other nations that spoke, including South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand, Ukraine, Belarus, Greece, India, Cuba as well as Middle Eastern countries from Iran to Algeria were openly jittery about a war and backed further inspections.

South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said U.N. weapons inspections should be enhanced and become more intrusive before the United Nations ends them and considers other measures.

"We believe that resorting to war without fully exhausting all other options presents an admission of failure by the Security Council in carrying out its mandate of international peace and security," Kumalo said.

U.N. inspectors have found no smoking gun so far but reported a new hitch with Baghdad on Tuesday, saying many Iraqi scientists had agreed to be interviewed about arms programs only if the meetings were recorded.

While a European Union summit on Monday produced a more united international front against Iraq, Washington and London still faced opposition from powerful states such as France, Russia, China and Germany over how long to give Baghdad to come clean over any weapons of mass destruction.

Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been pouring troops, warplanes and warships into the Gulf region.

They insist no deadline for war has been set, but military experts say the huge military build-up of some 250,000 troops has been designed for action in March, just weeks before the searing heat of the Iraqi summer. -- Reuters

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