Baghdad rejects draft UN resolution
Iraq remains defiant, dismissing plan threatening use of 'all necessary means', while US fails to win backing of key allies
straitstimes.asia1.com.sg
BAGHDAD - THE ink was barely dry on a tough United Nations (UN) draft resolution drawn up by the United States asking Iraq to comply with new arms inspection rules, when the plan was rejected by Baghdad and resisted by US allies.
About 40,000 protestors took to the streets of London yesterday to oppose a military strike on Iraq. Smaller protests also took place in Sydney and Egypt. -- REUTERS
The resolution, which is set to be put to the Security Council this week, gives Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a seven-day deadline to accept unlimited arms inspections and declare all of his programmes of weapons of mass destruction.
He is given a further 23 days to open up the sites concerned and provide all documents to support the declaration, a US official said.
If he fails to comply, the resolution threatens the use of ''all necessary means'' against him, meaning war.
But Iraq remained defiant, with Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan saying Baghdad would not accept any extra procedures for weapons inspections.
Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz warned that his country would fight a ''fierce war'', inflicting huge losses on US forces should it come under attack.
The draft resolution was being circulated at the weekend, as the US lobbied without success to win the support of France, Russia and China - permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power over any resolution.
US envoy Marc Grossman failed to make any headway in Paris and Moscow. French President Jacques Chirac, who spoke on the phone with his American counterpart earlier, told him France opposed threatening Iraq with military force.
In Moscow, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said after his meeting with Mr Grossman that Russia remain opposed to the use of force and that it ''still favours the quickest possible return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq''.
Beijing will also be a hard sell. Prime Minister Zhu Rongji was shown on French television saying that ''if the weapons inspections did not take place, if we do not have clear proof and if we do not have the authorisation of the Security Council, we cannot launch a military attack''.
The US also faced opposition in the streets. About 40,000 protesters marched through central London yesterday, to urge Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush not to go to war with Iraq.
Protests also took place in Italy, Sydney and Egypt.
Mr Bush even faced protesters in his own backyard when about 2,000 anti-war demonstrators gathered on Friday outside a Republican fund-raiser in Colorado, where he defended himself against charges of war-mongering.
''I'm willing to give peace a chance to work,'' he said, stressing that war is not his first option, and that he would prefer a peaceful resolution under the auspices of the UN.
In his radio address yesterday, Mr Bush once again spelt out the threat posed by Iraq's possession of chemical and biological weapons. He said his administration was close to getting a Congressional resolution that would give the President the authority to use whatever means necessary to eradicate the Iraqi threat.
Congress hopes to take up the resolution this week. Negotiations continue on the wording, with Democrats saying they will not give the President open-ended authority. -- AP, AFP, Reuters, New York Times
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Demands, deals and deadlines
KEY points in the draft United Nations resolution prepared by the United States:
A seven-day deadline for Iraq to accept demands in the resolution after its adoption by the UN.
A 30-day deadline for Iraq to declare all its weapons of mass destruction programmes.
A UN member state can use 'all necessary means', including the use of force, should Baghdad make 'false statements or omissions' or otherwise fail to comply.
Any of the permanent Security Council members - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - can ask to be represented on an inspection team.
Inspectors to have access to all sites, including palace compounds, mosques and any government buildings. --Reuters |
