Mr Powell told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ programme that he would not be surprised if France vetoed the resolution. He indicated that US would prefer an Iraq without Saddam Hussein when it disarmed.
Asked if Washington had the votes to prevail, Mr Powell said: “It’s not clear yet. We will have to wait and see when the vote is taken sometime this week but I am encouraged by the discussions I have been having with a number of members of the council.”
“I think we have a chance to get, a strong chance ... that we might get the nine or 10 votes needed for passage of the resolution and we’ll see if somebody wants to veto it,” he added.
The United States is at loggerheads with France as they scramble to win undecided Security Council members before this week’s expected UN vote.
France wants more time for the UN inspectors to do their job to disarm Iraq but the US has set a deadline of March 17 for Saddam Hussein to come clean or face war.
A defeat of the resolution appears unlikely to prevent war. Washington has repeatedly said it will lead a “coalition of the willing” against Iraq without UN approval, if necessary.
Mr Powell said if the Iraqi president did not have a change of heart and agreed to give up his suspected weapons of mass destruction — something he said he did not expect — then “the probability of war is rapidly increasing.”
The US, Britain and Spain have proposed a new UN resolution that sets a March 17 ultimatum for Iraq to comply fully with UN calls for giving up its suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes.
But the proposal faces strong opposition from France, Russia and other veto-wielding Security Council members, prompting a final, intense round of diplomacy before this week’s vote.
Iraq denies it has such weapons.
A resolution in the 15-member UN Security Council needs a minimum of nine votes for adoption and there must be no veto by any of the five permanent members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
AFP adds: Mr Powell said a French veto to block UN Security Council approval for military action against Iraq could seriously damage relations between the two countries.
“Well, I think it would be unfortunate if France decided to veto this resolution in the presence of a positive vote that would pass the resolution,” Mr Powell told Fox News.
“...even though France has been a friend of ours for many years, will be a friend in the future, I think it will have a serious effect on bilateral relations, at least in the short term,” Mr Powell said.