WASHINGTON, Jan 28: The White House and members of the United Nations Security Council expressed their support on Tuesday for a fresh UN resolution on Iraq.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said there was an “overwhelming majority” in the Security Council on the need for a second resolution before any military action is taken against Baghdad.

“That is the position we have on this issue and also the position of the overwhelming majority of the Security Council,” Schroeder told NDR television in an interview to be broadcast later on Tuesday, a day after UN weapons inspectors presented their interim report to the council.

Germany, one of the 10 rotating members of the Security Council, is opposed to a war against Iraq and has said it will not vote in favor of military action.

Meanwhile, when asked whether Washington would agree to a new resolution if there were a broad international consensus that such a measure were needed, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: “It’s desirable, but it is not mandatory.”

President George W. Bush’s “preference at all times is to do things with the most international support possible,” Fleischer said, hours before Bush was to make a speech bracing Americans for possible war with Iraq.

But he added that “it’s premature to say in finality about whether or not that will be the case,” stressing that “insufficient support” for a new resolution “will not stop” Bush from acting alone if necessary.

UN Security Council Resolution 1441, adopted last November, warns Iraq of “serious consequences” if it fails to disarm voluntarily, but does not explicitly spell out what those might be.

Several key nations, including Russia and France, have stressed that only the Security Council is empowered to authorize the use of force.

Amid such opposition from US allies against unilateral action by Washington, Bush was stepping up the “serious business” of consulting other leaders about what action to take against Iraq, said Fleischer.

Bush discussed Iraq policy by telephone Monday with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands, and he will welcome Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi next week.

The US leader, set to make his annual State of the Union speech to the US Congress late Tuesday, will welcome his closest ally on Iraq — British Prime Minister Tony Blair — to the Camp David presidential retreat on Friday.

“The consultation business is a serious business. Reaching out to the Europeans is serious business,” said Fleischer, who downplayed resistance from Germany and France to unilateral US military action.

Meanwhile, the international group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, known as ANSWER, called for a protest in New York’s Time Square Wednesday against Bush’s address.

The speech will be a “war speech (with) one function: to prepare the population for war,” the group said in a statement, adding that it is “crucial that people demonstrate in cities and towns throughout the United States in coordinated actions to show that the people reject Bush’s State of the Union message.”

Economists, for their part, have said fears of war in Iraq are restraining economic growth, as orders for big-ticket items edged barely higher and consumer confidence deteriorated.

“For the economy, the war issue needs to be settled,” said Wachovia Corp. chief economist John Silvia.

“Markets are rational and they have discounted the war. Businesses are rational, also,” he added, “and they have put both hiring and business investment on hold until the war/terrorism risk has passed.”

Fleischer said Bush would not use his speech to reveal any startling new evidence that Iraq possesses banned chemical, biological or nuclear arms programmes, adding that Bush “has not made a determination” on whether he will go to war against Baghdad.

But senior US officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell may present new information detailing Iraq’s violations of disarmament demands to the UN Security Council next week.—AFP