March 9, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 5, 1424

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UNITED NATIONS, March 8: Pakistani diplomats at the United Nations were caught by surprise on Friday when an alternative draft resolution on Iraq attributed to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia surfaced.

Pakistan’s ambassador Munir Akram denied any connection to the paper, which, he called, was “one of many ideas floating around.” Pakistan didn’t plan to introduce any draft unless Arab ambassadors could persuade the major council powers to support it, the diplomat said.

The two-page proposal, which some diplomats said might have been floated by Saudi Arabia, was designed to encourage Iraqis to revolt against the regime rather than face war.

Pakistan’s name was attributed to the draft because it is a Muslim country, a member of the UN Security Council and seeks a peaceful resolution of the Iraqi crisis, diplomats reflected.

The draft offers amnesty to all Iraqi officials who would cooperate with inspectors and suggests that force can be used to protect Iraqi people facing threat from their own regime.

Mr Akram said many Arab and other Muslim countries were floating such ideas to see whether they could gather any momentum.

Referring to the US resolution, Mr Akram said it needed more work and possibly a wider deadline in order for the United States to win the nine votes it needs for the resolution’s adoption.

On Saturday, US President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell worked on phones to persuade the wavering Security Council members to support the US draft resolution.

Despite diplomacy, there were increasing signs of an imminent war. The United Nations on Friday ordered dependents of its international staff members in Jordan to leave the country for security reasons. Besides, the UN peacekeeping department issued a second complaint that contractors, working in the presence of US Marines in Kuwait, were cutting holes in a fence between Kuwait and Iraq.