U.S., France Focus Intense Lobbying on Undecided Nations
URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80651,00.html
Monday, March 10, 2003
UNITED NATIONS — The United States and France are mired in competing lobbying campaigns in order to win U.N. Security Council members over to their sides of the Iraq debate.
A vote that could lead to war with Iraq could come as early as Tuesday on a U.S.-U.K.-Spain resolution authorizing the use of military force to make sure Baghdad gets rid of its banned weapons of mass destruction for good.
Facing veto threats from France and Russia, President Bush made an urgent round of phone calls to world leaders Monday, trying to salvage to breathe new life into the ultimatum.
He spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Jiang Zemin and planned to talk to a series of other leaders, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
China is a permanent member the Security Council and has veto power. Beijing, whose trade relationship with Washington is crucial to its economy, has refused to say whether it would veto the deadline proposal.
Japan backed the new resolution Saturday. Although Japan isn't on the council, it's a major source of foreign aid -- an important consideration for the poor nations on the body.
Fleischer said Bush was emphasizing humanitarian arguments for war with Iraq.
Also on Monday, Secretary of State Colin Powell was meeting with the foreign minister of Guinea, Francois Fall. The West African nation is holding the presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month and is being courted by all sides of the Iraq debate.
Top Bush administration officials didn't rest over the weekend, either.
They worked the phones Sunday, urging countries to give a thumbs up to a recent March 17 ultimatum for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to disarm or face war. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin flew to Africa to persuade Angola, Guinea and Cameroon to reject the deadline.
U.S. diplomats said they may need another day past Tuesday to continue seeking support.
A deep rift lies in the Security Council over the ultimatum. The United States also has the support of Bulgaria on the deal, but it's vehemently opposed by France, Russia, China and Germany.
The opponents argue that U.N. weapons inspections are showing results and should be strengthened to peacefully disarm Iraq.
To be adopted by the 15-nation Security Council, the resolution needs nine votes in favor and no veto by a permanent member -- the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain.
Lobbying efforts are focused on the undecided nations among the 10 elected members who serve two-year terms -- Mexico, Chile, Pakistan, Cameroon, Angola and Guinea.
Powell said he was within "striking distance" of the nine "yes" votes. But he conceded on Fox News Sunday that France appeared prepared to veto the resolution.
Powell spoke amid indications that Cameroon, a former French colony, would support the resolution. U.S. diplomats said they were concentrating on Angola, Guinea and Chile.
U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on ABC's This Week that she or Powell might try to lobby leaders in person. "It may well be necessary to do some travel. We'll see."
Rice also suggested that the Bush administration might offer financial aid to key nations in exchange for support, saying "We're talking to people about their interests."
On Monday, a front-page editorial in the influential Iraqi newspaper Babil urged Russia, China and France to veto the U.S. war resolution and said the world would be watching "peace-loving nations clinging to international law" when the draft is debated.
"The logic of justice and law should rule the Security Council, not bloodthirsty whims for a group of adventurers in Washington," said the editorial in Babil, which is owned by Saddam's son, Odai.
In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair, who faces intense opposition at home for his strong support of the U.S. campaign against Saddam, lobbied for the resolution in a phone call to Zemin, who said every effort must be made to avoid war.
France has repeatedly said that the United States will not get nine "yes" votes, but de Villepin's last-minute Africa lobbying blitz suggested the French were concerned about the numbers.
French President Jacques Chirac talked late Sunday to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, pledged to try to block any resolution authorizing force against Iraq. Chirac got support Sunday from Schroeder for the leaders of Security Council nations to fly to New York for the vote -- despite Powell's dismissal of the idea last week as unnecessary.
"France will not allow a resolution to pass that authorizes the automatic use of force," de Villepin said before leaving Paris. But some observers said that despite such words, Paris would be hesitant to block a resolution if it has broad backing.
Powell said he wouldn't be surprised by a French veto, but such a step would "have a serious effect on bilateral relations, at least in the short term," he said.
At the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington on Saturday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, joked with the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Yuri Ushakov. "I won't veto you if you don't veto me," Negroponte told Ushakov, who laughed.
Nations considered key swing votes, such as Mexico and Pakistan, sought extra days to negotiate a deadline beyond the March 17 date proposed by the Bush administration.
But Powell said on a cable news program that, "We have no plans to change that date."
President Bush has said the United States is prepared to forcefully disarm Iraq without Security Council approval. But U.N. support would give the war international legitimacy and guarantee that members of the organization share in the costs of rebuilding Iraq.
Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, said a high-level Arab delegation will soon travel to Baghdad. Maher was part of an Arab League ministerial delegation that met Thursday with Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan told the ministers they should tell Saddam that he must do something drastic to avoid war.
Meanwhile, new diplomatic efforts backed by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan trying to force a revolt in Iraq or coaxing Saddam into exile was picking up steam in the Muslim world.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud said that the quickest way to resolve the Iraq crisis was for Saddam to step down.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
