-Caveat Lector- Print this article | Close this window US, Britain delay war request to UN By Caroline Overington, Herald Correspondent in New York February 21 2003
The march to war with Iraq has been slowed, after the United States and Britain decided yesterday to delay presenting a second resolution authorising the use of force. The two nations, which have been working together on the text of a second UN resolution, are apparently unable to agree on what the resolution will say. A draft of the second resolution was completed this week, and the UN Security Council had expected to see it on Wednesday, but, as a second day of debate on Iraq wound down, there was no sign that it would be presented. Britain soon announced that the resolution had been delayed, for as long as a week. UN officials say the US and Britain are still agonising over the text, and decided to spend at least a few more days lobbying members of the Security Council to vote for the second resolution, before it is presented. Permanent members France and Russia have maintained strong opposition to the use of force. The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said the presentation "could be this week. It could be next week. They both are active options. We are still talking to allies about the exact timing, the exact wording." Adding to the confusion, Britain's ambassador to the UN, Jeremy Greenstock, said the resolution would include a deadline by which Iraq had to show complete willingness to disarm. Britain said the UN might not have to decide on war before March, but Mr Fleischer said President George Bush "would not expect a lengthy debate at all". However, Mr Bush has already made it clear that he considers UN backing no more than "useful" and certainly "not necessary" for launching an attack on Iraq. The chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, will ask Iraq to destroy its al- Samoud 2 missiles but has not yet determined whether the rocket engines that drive them should be demolished too, diplomats and US sources have said. The US has signalled that an Iraqi refusal to give them up would violate Security Council orders that it surrender its ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction. Dr Blix is expected to write a letter to Iraqi officials shortly after weapons inspectors complete their inventory of sites assembling missiles, launchers and other components. Dr Blix has said that the al-Samoud 2 missile appears to be illegal because it exceeds the 150-kilometre range set by the UN. Iraq denies the missiles are illegal. President Saddam Hussein said on Wednesday that Iraq wanted to avoid war with the US, but not at the price of its independence. He told the visiting leader of the Russian Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, that Iraq was ready to fight if the US was "driven by the devil" and launched an offensive. The Iraqi Trade Minister, Mohammed Mehdi Saleh, said his country was preparing as if war were imminent. In Washington, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, asked by teenagers assembled in a television studio if the US planned to invade Iraq to take control of Iraqi oil, said: "The oil will belong to the people of Iraq. The United States will not take it." This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/20/1045638426578.html Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. 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