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France, Russia to nix US-backed resolution on Iraq
( 2003-03-11 08:12 ) (7 )

France and Russia vowed Monday to vote down a US-backed resolution setting a March 17 ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to disarm or face war as the United States scrambled to get enough support to call for a vote.

Faced with stiff opposition, the United States and Britain - which along with Spain sponsored the resolution - said Monday they were open to compromise.

In a televised interview, French President Jacques Chirac said Paris would vote against any resolution that contains an ultimatum leading to war "no matter what the circumstances."

It was the first time Chirac explicitly said France would use its veto power as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to block the United States' quest for world body approval for war.

A French "no" vote would not go down in history as a veto if France was voting with the majority of nine needed to defeat the US-backed measure.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who opposes the rush to war and wants Iraq peacefully disarmed, also threatened to veto the resolution.

"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 ultimatum demands that cannot be met is nonetheless put to a vote, then Russia will vote against this resolution," he said at the Moscow State Linguistics University.

In a news conference Monday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer opened the door to the possibility of further changes in the wording of the resolution, or the March 17 deadline.

Fleischer also said that a showdown Security Council vote would not come Tuesday, but could come anytime later in the week. The council was scheduled to discuss the resolution late Monday.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Britain would consider a U.N. resolution that extends an ultimatum beyond the March 17 deadline already proposed.

A compromise resolution could give Saddam a specific list of demands based on weapons inspectors' assessment of gaps in Iraqi disarmament, he said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram suggested Iraq be given at least one month to complete the disarmament tasks but US officials said the deadline would need to be much tighter.

Mexico and Chile, meanwhile, were pushing other Security Council members for a last-minute compromise on Iraqi disarmament, officials from the two countries said Monday.

The Bush administration suffered another potential blow when Pakistan's Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said his Muslim nation won't support war with Iraq, though he didn't say if it would vote against the resolution. Chile also suggested Monday it is not prepared to approve the resolution without changes.

Pakistan and Chile are considered key swing votes along with Mexico, Angola, Cameroon and Guinea. The six countries have been the focus of intense lobbying by the opposing camps led by France and the United States.

If Pakistan and Chile abstains or votes "no," the United States would almost certainly fail to get the nine "yes" votes needed for the 15-member council to adopt the resolution. That's because France, Russia, China, Germany and Syria are virtually certain to abstain or vote against it.

Chirac indicated the veto might not be needed because the resolution does not have sufficient support for passage.

"Tonight this resolution, which carries an ultimatum ... does not have a majority of nine votes," Chirac said.

Asked whether he believed that voting against the resolution would seriously damage relations with the United States, Chirac said "I am totally convinced of the opposite."

President Bush telephoned world leaders Monday to try to salvage the resolution.

Bush spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Jiang Zemin and planned to talk to a series of other leaders, Fleischer said.

Beijing, whose trade relationship with Washington is crucial to its economy, has refused to say whether it would veto the US-British proposal to set the March 17 deadline.

French Foreign Minister Dominique 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.

There were indications that Cameroon, a former French colony, would support the resolution. US diplomats said they were concentrating on Angola, Guinea and Chile. The foreign minister of Guinea will visit administration officials this week in Washington.

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.

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.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said Monday that invading forces "are not going to take Iraq easily" because Iraqis will fight to defend their country.

He said a US-led force of more than a quarter-million troops massing around Iraq would not be able to drive the Iraqi government from power without a bloody fight.

"They cannot take Baghdad. The people of Iraq are prepared to fight to defend their sovereignty, their honor, their national interests," he said. "They are not going to take Iraq easily."

Aziz, Iraq's best-known voice during the 1991 Gulf War, made the comments at a news conference for Spanish journalists in Baghdad.