France, Russia to Oppose Iraq Resolution
17 minutes ago
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
URL:http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20030310/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_diplomacy
UNITED NATIONS - Days away from a U.N. vote that could lead to war in Iraq (news - web sites), France and Russia said Monday that they would oppose the U.S.-backed resolution setting a March 17 ultimatum for Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), a strong indication the measure could face defeat.
Neither Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov nor French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said explicitly that they would veto the resolution if necessary, but their forceful words strongly hinted that they would.
The two ministers, who oppose the rush to war and want Iraq peacefully disarmed, spoke as the rival camps led by the United States and France stepped up lobbying of a handful of undecided Security Council members whose votes could be crucial.
President Bush (news - web sites) made an urgent round of phone calls to world leaders Monday, trying to salvage a U.N. Security Council ultimatum giving Saddam Hussein until March 17 to prove Iraq has disarmed.
Bush spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Jiang Zemin (news - web sites) and planned to talk to a series of other leaders, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said.
China is a permanent member the Security Council and has veto power. Japan backed the new resolution Saturday, urging the Security Council to pass it. While Japan is not on the council, it is a major source of foreign aid — an important consideration for the poor nations on the body.
The spokesman said Bush was emphasizing humanitarian arguments for war with Iraq.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told the council on Friday to be prepared to vote as early as Tuesday. But Chile's U.N. Ambassador Gabriel Valdes, whose country is in the undecided camp, said "I dont think there will be a vote tomorrow."
De Villepin met top Angolan officials Monday at the start of a quick trip to lobby three undecided African members of the council that will also take him to Cameroon and Guinea. Angola's Foreign Minister Joao Miranda would not say whether his country would support the resolution.
"It's not my job to say what the Angolan position is," de Villepin said in the capital, Luanda. "We won't let a resolution that could open the way to war pass in the Security Council." But some observers said that despite such words, Paris would be hesitant to block a resolution if it has broad backing.
After listening to the latest reports Friday from top U.N. weapons inspectors, Russia's Ivanov said Monday "we did not hear serious arguments for the use of force to solve the Iraqi problem."
"Russia believes that no further resolutions of the U.N. Security Council are necessary and therefore Russia openly declares that if the draft resolution that currently has been introduced for consideration and which contains demands in an ultimative form that cannot be met is nonetheless put to a vote then Russia will vote against this resolution," he said, according to the Interfax news agency.
The Security Council is bitterly divided over the newly revised draft resolution that would set the ultimatum. It is cosponsored by the United States, Britain and Spain — and strongly 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.
As the showdown nears, both camps are counting votes.
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.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) 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. The foreign minister of Guinea will visit administration officials this week in Washington.
U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) 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 (news - web sites), 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 Jiang, who said every effort must be made to avoid war.
Beijing, whose trade relationship with Washington is crucial to its economy, has refused to say whether it would veto the U.S.-British proposal to set the March 17 deadline.
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 (news - web sites), 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.
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.
In Tokyo on Monday, Koizumi said he would urge Pakistan, Chile and Mexico to support the U.S.-British-Spanish resolution in telephone calls Monday.
"The authority of the United Nations (news - web sites) is at stake," he said. "Amid such heightened tensions, we should not convey the wrong message to Iraq." |
