-Caveat Lector- UN Council appears to give up on Iraq compromises (Reuters) http://66.234.3.46/DisplayArticle.asp? xfile=data/focusoniraq/2003/March/focusoniraq_March188.xml§ion=foc usoniraq 15 March 2003
UNITED NATIONS - The quick US rejection of the latest effort by Chile and other nations to break the deadlock on a resolution of war with Iraq indicated that UN negotiations were all but over, diplomats said.After weeks of trying to get a majority in the 15-member UN Security Council for a US-British-Spanish resolution paving the way to war, the Bush administration ended up with only one nation, Bulgaria, publicly declaring its support. The White House announced that President George W. Bush would meet on Sunday with Prime Ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Jose Maria Aznar in Spain in the Azores to determine if there was still room for diplomacy. But many diplomats, wandering the corridors of the United Nations, believed the meeting was a countdown to war and the resolution would be withdrawn rather than put to a vote where a humiliating defeat was likely. A proposal by Chile, one of six uncommitted council members, which sought to give Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein three more weeks to disarm, was dismissed almost immediately by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer as a "non-starter." His comments appeared to kill the last momentum to find a compromise as the other five undecided countries -- Mexico, Pakistan, Angola, Cameroon and Guinea -- said they were unable to reach a common position. "We don’t have anything yet," said Angolan Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins. "It’s a Chilean proposal." While talks on Friday were conducted in small groups and among the six undecided members of the council, no session of the full Security Council was planned following a week of frantic activity. One meeting among the five permanent council members with veto power was canceled, a sign there was not much left to do. The only sign of optimism came from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who told reporters, "It’s not over until it is over. I still have hope." The US-backed resolution set a Monday deadline for Iraq to disarm or face war. Britain had proposed a series of tests Saddam Hussein must fulfill in order to avoid war and had expressed willingness to extend the deadline by about 10 days. But France and Russia immediately turned it down. Chile, picking up some of the British conditions for Iraq to follow, proposed the Security Council set a three-week deadline, after which another council decision would have to be made before any military action could be taken. To give it more weight, the proposal was announced in Santiago by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, whose country had been the backbone in organizing the uncommitted nations. But diplomats said it was clear that the United States had run out of patience and that any efforts would be in vain. The meeting in the Azores does not include any of the six, nor France, who led the anti-war faction in the council that includes Russia, China, Germany and Syria. Iraq, meanwhile, sent a 25-page document in English and Arabic to chief inspector Hans Blix on the deadly VX nerve gas in response to requests it account for discrepancies in earlier documents. Iraq’s UN ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, said another report on anthrax would be submitted shortly. With more than 250,000 American and British troops poised to invade Iraq, Bush maintains he will launch a war without UN backing if necessary. But Blair is desperate for a UN resolution that could shore up his crumbling political base in the face of strong anti-war sentiment in his Labor Party and in the country. If there were no vote on the new resolution, the legal situation might be governed by Resolution 1441, adopted on Nov. 8, which threatened "serious consequences" if Iraq did not disarm. But if the resolution is defeated, an attack against Iraq would be in violation of international law. Forwarded for your information. 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