September 25, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 17, 1423

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WASHINGTON, Sept 24: Two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, United States and Britain, have prepared a draft resolution, asking the world body to endorse US military strikes against Iraq, sources in the Bush administration said on Tuesday.

They said the resolution would be first presented to three other permanent members of the security council — China, France and Russia — to ensure that they did not veto the proposal.

President George W. Bush has scheduled a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Iraq situation and to increase pressure on Congress to approve the administration’s war plan. The Bush administration is meeting some resistance in Congress to its plans to invade Baghdad.

In making the case for war against Iraq, Washington and London need to overcome resistance to a fresh resolution from other members of the UNSC, notably Russia, whose support is still uncertain.

As veto-wielding permanent Security Council members, the votes of Russia, China and France are key to pushing through a resolution on Iraq.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov called on Monday for a two-track strategy on Iraq, saying that weapons inspectors could work inside the country while diplomats discussed a new United Nations resolution.

Iraq, accused by the US of developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, agreed last week to the unconditional return of arms inspectors.

The US and Britain have stepped up pressure on the UN Security Council to adopt a tough new Iraq resolution before any resumption of UN arms inspections to search for weapons of mass destruction. Russia has said it sees no need for a new UN resolution.