"FURTHER MATERIAL BREACH"
New Blix Report Could Delay U.N. Vote on Iraq
Wed Feb 19,12:15 PM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S.-British resolution seeking U.N. authorization for war against Iraq may not be pushed to a vote before early March, after another report by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, diplomats said on Wednesday,
Before making a final decision about launching a military strike, the United States appears willing to devote a few weeks to getting international support, leading analysts and diplomats to believe a possible attack would not take place before mid-March.
But the language of a draft resolution has still not been agreed on by President Bush (news - web sites) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites). Its distribution to the 15-member U.N. Security Council, originally expected on Wednesday, is delayed until later in the week or early next week.
In the face of strong opposition to war in the Security Council, some knowledgeable envoys believe the United States and Britain will wait for any vote on a resolution until Blix's next report in hopes he will deliver criticism of Iraq that would rally support for military action.
Blix, along with his colleague Mohammed ElBaradei, in charge of nuclear arms inspectors, is to give a written update to the Security Council at the end of the month or early in March on the inspectors' progress and Iraq's cooperation
His report may include "key unresolved questions" that Iraq may answer. He is expected to report orally to the council during the first week of March.
To prepare for the report, Blix on Monday and Tuesday meets again with his outside advisory board, called a College of Commissioners, which is made up of technical experts and government officials from around the world. Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf represents the United States and Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov is Russia's commissioner.
"FURTHER MATERIAL BREACH"
The draft resolution is expected to be simple and say Iraq is in "further material breach" of a Nov. 8 Security Council resolution giving Baghdad one last opportunity to disarm or face serious consequences. The words "material breach" can be used as legal justification for military force.
The draft may give President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) a deadline to comply with Security Council demands. But this warning may also appear in a separate statement issued by the United States and Britain, the diplomats said.
The Bush administration also was weighing whether weapons inspectors should first set certain tasks for Iraq to fulfill.
Members could then assess whether Iraq is cooperating with so-called "benchmarks" and if it does not comply, the United States would have an easier time pushing a resolution to a successful vote. But diplomats said this plan seems to have been discarded.
"Technically it is not hard to establish benchmarks -- on Iraq allowing private interviews with scientists all the time, on missiles, on any stocks of anthrax it may have," said one Security Council source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But the time this might involve is risky."
John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites), cautioned on Tuesday that the Bush administration had not yet decided when to circulate a document.
He said at minimum he would wait until Wednesday, the end of a public meeting at which dozens of U.N. members expressed opposition to war. But distribution will probably be later.
U.N. backing is particularly important for Britain and other European nations that support the United States, which has amassed 150,000 troops in the Gulf for an attack.
Anti-war protests over the weekend showed massive turnouts throughout the globe, with at least 750,000 people protesting in London, 1.3 million in Barcelona and one million in Rome among others.
Washington had thought it could fairly easily get the minimum nine votes needed for adoption of a resolution and then dare France, Russia and China -- permanent council members with veto rights -- to veto the measure.
But a debate last Friday, when Blix gave a more favorable report on arms inspections than expected, showed this was not the case. The United States and Britain received strong support from only Spain and mild backing from Bulgaria.
Other council members either supported France, which wants inspections extended, or were undecided.
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