UNITED NATIONS, March 5: As the diplomatic standoff between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, to authorize military action against Iraq, became more pronounced, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan pleaded for a compromise.
Although United States along with Britain is expected to press for a UN vote on Monday, the three other permanent members, France Russia and China continue to oppose it calling for more time for UN weapons inspectors to do their work.
Pakistan and five other non-permanent members of the Council whose votes are deemed crucial for any vote in the council on the resolution, say that standoff among permanent members may open up some space for diplomatic efforts by uncommitted smaller nations.
A US-British-Spanish draft resolution, clearing the way for forcibly disarming Iraq, needs nine votes to pass in the 15-member UN Security Council, and no vetoes.
The crunch time will come on Friday when the Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix reports to the UN on Friday about Iraq and its alleged weapons of mass destruction. US Secretary of State Colin Powell would attend Friday’s meeting along with his French, German and Russian counterparts.
Powell will face stiff opposition to his attempt to secure a UN Security Council resolution next week finding Iraq in violation of its obligations. Foreign ministers from anti-war powers France, Russia and Germany agreed on Wednesday to not allow a resolution authorizing war in Iraq to pass in the council.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday there would be a vote on a second UN resolution backing war with Iraq if President Saddam Hussein was not disarming, and he was sure it would be passed.
Britain hopes that Chief Inspector Blix’s report will be tough enough on Saddam to allow a final bout of diplomatic arm-twisting at the UN, but Iraq has destroyed a clutch of its more than 100 al-Samoud 2 missiles since Saturday in a move of compliance.
Despite reports that London and Washington may back off from a vote expected next week if they think they will not win. Blair squashed that speculation. “If (Saddam) is not complying, there will undoubtedly be a resolution put to a vote,” he told parliament.
“We are confident of securing the votes for that resolution.” Blair said regardless of that action, Saddam remained in breach of resolution 1441, passed unanimously by the UN Security Council last year, until and unless he came clean about all his biological and chemical weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, in London for talks on Tuesday, warned that Moscow may use its power of veto in the Security Council to block any resolution paving the way for war on Iraq and said Russia would not abstain.
However, the US secretary of state told a French television station in an interview: “I am increasingly optimistic that if it comes to a vote, we will be able to make a case that will persuade most of the members of the Security Council to vote for the resolution.”
While the United States is given a good chance to get the minimum nine votes needed for adoption in the 15-member council, diplomats believe that point has not been reached. There is also a strong chance France and Russia would use their veto power to kill the measure. “They haven’t done enough horse trading yet to get everyone on board,” said Nancy Soderberg, a former senior official at the US mission to the United Nations.
In New York, Russia’s UN ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, told a news conference he thought there was still a chance to avoid war, adding: “I do not think the council is going to approve the use of force.”
On Tuesday UN Chief Kofi Annan, at his monthly lunch with UN Security Council members, appealed for unity and compromise among the major powers — the United States and Britain pushing a resolution to authorize war and France, Russia and China opposing it, diplomats said.
Annan reportedly also warned of a catastrophe in the making if a war takes place without a UN mandate which would have no legality for UN to conduct any future operations in Iraq.