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UNITED NATIONS, Jan 30: At a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, 11 out of 15 members expressed their reservations against launching military action against Iraq until UN inspectors have completed their job.
It became apparent that most council members are not convinced that the negative report from Chief Inspector Hans Blix that Iraq was not cooperating nor the case made against Iraq by President Bush, have changed any positions in the council.
Supporting continued inspections were France, Russia and China, which all have veto power, as well as Germany, Mexico, Chile, Guinea, Cameroon, Syria, Angola and Pakistan. Only Bulgaria and Spain backed the United States and Britain in focusing on Iraq’s failures rather than the inspections process.
Mohamed ElBaradei, Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, again called for extension of months to allow inspectors to come to a conclusive judgment about Iraq’s weapons programme.
“I still believe that we have not exhausted the possibility for the peaceful resolution of the issue, and I will continue to plead for more time,” ElBaradei said.
Some Security Council diplomats told reporters that the possibility of a second resolution paving the way toward war was being widely discussed. The most likely scenario would set a relatively short deadline for Baghdad to meet certain steps to avert military action, the diplomats said.
The United States and Britain are the only two countries to declare Iraq in “material breach” — which could trigger war. Diplomats said that after Powell’s appearance, the two countries might try to get the entire council to declare Iraq in “material breach.”
US Secretary of State Colin Powell will present classified information on Iraq’s weapons programme to the Security Council on Feb 5 to prove that Baghdad was still hiding its weapons of mass destruction. The presentation is likely to include a slide show behind closed-doors.
EUROPEAN SUPPORT: President Bush, meanwhile, was given a boost by the support expressed by eight European community leaders.
In a signed letter published on Thursday in newspapers including The Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, the leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark paid homage to the “bravery and generosity of America” in ensuring peace in Europe.
France and Germany stood out as the two holdouts against the support given by their eight counterparts.
At the UN the French Ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, told reporters that “the majority in the council is in favor of giving more time to the inspectors,” adding “as long as the prospect... of the disarmament of Iraq through peaceful means exists, we have to continue.”
The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud, was scheduled to meet President Bush and the Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday. Mr Bush also planned to meet on Thursday with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and on Friday at Camp David with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was due to go to Madrid late on Thursday afternoon for a two-hour stop to meet the Spanish prime minister before jetting across the Atlantic for Friday’s meeting with Mr Bush at the Camp David retreat.
Diplomats here are of opinion that Mr Bush and Mr Blair are expected to align military strategy for a possible attack on Iraq, but will agree to wait a few weeks for more UN weapons inspections before launching war.
This week, Mr Blair has already talked by phone to leaders of France, Canada, Australia, Turkey and Greece.
Next week Mr Blair is expected to visit France for a meeting with President Jacques Chirac, and Iran’s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi visits London, where British officials will put the case for war to Iraq’s key neighbour.
Mr Blair, the reports here say, has aligned his position closer with Mr Bush prior to his departure by explicitly linking Iraq with the militant Al Qaeda network blamed for Sept 11 and other attacks.
