Global Policy Forum

By Edith M. Lederer

Facing strong opposition from dozens of nations, the United States has backed down from its demand that a new U.N. resolution must explictly authorize military force if Iraq fails to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors, diplomats said Thursday.

Instead, the United States is floating a compromise that would give inspectors a chance to test Baghdad's will to cooperate on the ground. If the inspectors report that Iraq is obstructing their work, the United States would agree to return to the Security Council for further debate and possibly another resolution authorizing action, the diplomats said. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was working intensely on the matter, and that Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken to French, Russian and British foreign ministers.

Boucher said the United States is continuing to pursue "a strong resolution that makes clear there must be consequences... .Those consequences would come in the form of action if Iraq does not comply."

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he believes there are now "favorable conditions" for council agreement on a resolution that will lead to the quick return of inspectors.

The new compromise also drops tough wording explicitly threatening Iraq upfront, although the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a threat of consequences will be implied.

The diplomats said France, which has been the main stumbling block for the United States, was studying the new offer amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at solving an impasse among the Security Council powers on Iraq.

During an open Security Council debate on Iraq, which started Wednesday and continued Thursday, more than two dozen nations — including Iraq's closest neighbors and key U.S. allies — refused to endorse the Bush administration's demand for an authorization of military force if Baghdad fails to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspections. They said Iraq must be given a chance to completely disarm without the imminent threat of military action.

Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of Britain, whose country is supporting the U.S. position, said the emphasis was on reaching a deal that all sides could accept. "We're looking for unity in the council," he said.

Many U.N. members favor the two-resolution approach proposed by France and backed by Russia and China.

Ivanov said Powell told him the new U.S. and British proposals will take Russia's opinion into account, and will be submitted in the next day or two. "We believe that there are favorable conditions now to preserve the unity of the global community and ensure the return of international inspectors and their efficient work in Iraq," he said. "We are looking forward to seeing this document." He said Powell "underlined that the United States is interested in reaching a consensus among the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council in order to implement all U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq." Ivanov said he told Powell that Russia is "ready for the most constructive cooperation to find common understanding so that a new resolution would become an important element supporting international inspectors, who should leave for Iraq as quickly as possible."

Under the French approach, the first resolution would toughen U.N. inspections and warn Iraq that it will face consequences, including the possible use of force, if it doesn't comply with inspections. The second would authorize action against Iraq if it failed to cooperate. "Every possible effort should be made to avert war," Bangladesh's U.N. Ambassador Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told the council on Thursday.

In speech after speech, ambassadors from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America called Iraq's decision last month to allow U.N. inspectors to return an important first step — and said the council should send the inspectors back quickly and test Baghdad's commitment. Many warned that a new war would add to the suffering of the Iraqi people, possibly engulf the Middle East in conflict, and have dire consequences on global stability and the world economy. "This war is useless because its motives are not well-founded," Tunisia's U.N. Ambassador Noureddine Mejdoub said Wednesday. "It would unleash a chain of reactions in Iraq and in the region."

The council meeting was held at the behest of the Nonaligned Movement, comprising 115 mainly developing countries that favor a peaceful solution in Iraq, and it was open to all 191 U.N. member states. Some 50 nations that aren't on the council took up the opportunity, and they were speaking ahead of the 15 council members who will wrap up the debate on Thursday.

Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri was pleased at the opposition to military action and support for the return of inspectors in Wednesday's speeches. He said he expected to hear more of the same on Thursday. Reiterating that Iraq would cooperate with the U.N. inspectors "in every possible way," al-Douri told the council that the United States was attempting "to hamper and delay the return of inspectors" to adopt a new resolution which would serve as "a pretext to cover aggression against Iraq."

Since the 1980s, Iraq has gone to war with two of its neighbors — Iran and Kuwait — but neither supported an immediate authorization to use force. Both urged the Iraqi government to strictly comply with all U.N. resolutions to avert war. "Any use of force must be a last resort and within the United Nations framework and only after all other available means have been exhausted," said Kuwait's Ambassador Mohammad Abulhasan.

Several U.S. allies — the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — backed the U.S. view that after 11 years of failing to comply with U.N. resolutions, Iraq should be given a tough new mandate spelling out that inspectors must have unconditional and unrestricted access to all sites. However, none of the allies called for a new resolution to include a green light for military action.

Denmark's U.N. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj, speaking on behalf of the EU, said: "The government of Iraq should make no mistake about the fact that noncompliance with this inspection regime would have serious consequences."

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