UN debates Iraq resolution

UNITED NATIONS -- Facing almost certain defeat, the United States and Britain signaled Tuesday they would agree to a short extension of a deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm or face war.\nA 45-day delay proposed by six swing council nations appeared out of the question, however.\nThe Bush administration had talked of a vote as early as Tuesday, but with France and Russia threatening to veto the current draft resolution, and without the minimum nine "yes" votes, it held up action in the council.\nThe U.S. campaign for votes suffered another blow when a spokesman for Pakistan's ruling party said the country would abstain on the resolution.\nAzeem Chaudhry made the announcement as Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali appealed for Baghdad to be given more time to disarm, saying: "We do not want to see the destruction of the Iraqi people, the destruction of the country."\nWhite House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the U.S.-backed resolution would be put to a vote this week and indicated a readiness to compromise. He said a proposal being floated to push back the March 17 deadline by a month was "a non-starter."\n"There is room for diplomacy here," Fleischer said. "Not much room and not much time."\nHe spoke as Cameroon's Ambassador Martin Belinga-Eboutou was announcing that he and five other ambassadors from key council nations -- Mexico, Chile, Angola, Guinea and Pakistan -- would suggest an even longer deadline of 45 days and the addition of benchmarks that Saddam Hussein would have to meet to avoid war.\nBut a U.S. official discounted the proposal.\n"It's not going anywhere, there's only one resolution on the table," one U.S. official said.\nBoth the United States and Britain, which is under intense pressure at home to get U.N. backing for any military action, said they were willing to negotiate both the deadline and other changes to the resolution.\n"We are busting a gut to see if we can get greater consensus in the council," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said late Monday. "We are examining whether a list of tests of Iraqi compliance would be a useful thing for the council. It doesn't mean there are any conclusions."\nGreenstock said Tuesday the March 17 deadline could be extended but not by that much.\nBritain is "prepared to look at time lines and tests together, but I'm pretty sure we're talking about action in March. Don't look beyond March," he told CNN.\nUnder the British proposal, Saddam would have 10 days to prove Iraq has taken a "strategic decision" to disarm, which could be done with a series of tests or "benchmarks," council diplomats said.\nIf Iraq makes that decision, a second phase would begin with more time to verify Iraq's full disarmament, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.\nReacting to the possible British compromise, French diplomats said the resolution would still mean authorizing war, which France is unwilling to do. However, the French Foreign Ministry in Paris indicated it was open to new ideas.\n"It's a new development and the future will tell us if it is a significant development," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau. "We've indicated we are open to dialogue."\nNonetheless, he stressed that the "red line" set out by France cannot be crossed: "We want no ultimatum. We want no element of automaticity. And we've said we want what the inspectors say taken into account."\nRussia's U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov agreed.\n"We see no reason whatsoever to interrupt the inspections and any resolution which contains ultimatums and which contains automaticity for the use of force is not acceptable to us," he said.\nWhile Washington and London work on a possible compromise, council members agreed to hold another open meeting on the Iraq crisis at the request of the Non-Aligned Movement, which represents about 115 mainly developing countries. Most are opposed to a war against Iraq.\nDiplomats said it would likely delay a vote until Thursday at the earliest.\nThe open meeting will give nations from all parts of the world a chance to voice their views on an issue that has polarized the Security Council. It will also give supporters and opponents of the U.S.-backed resolution more time to lobby.\nPresident Bush was conducting an urgent phone campaign, seeking support from world leaders.\nChinese President Jiang Zemin told Bush that inspections in Iraq should continue and the standoff should be settled without military action, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Jiang told Bush there was "no need for any new resolution," said spokesman Kong Quan.\nIn the anti-war camp, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin had traveled to Africa to meet with the leaders of Angola, Guinea and Cameroon -- three important swing votes on the council.\nJapan has begun lobbying the undecided council members to urge support for the U.S.-backed resolution, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. In one call, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Mexican President Vicente Fox that international divisions were putting the United Nations' authority at stake, the ministry said.\n"Mexico is taking an independent position and is not leaning to either side," Fox said.\nThe current draft resolution -- which authorizes war any time after March 17 unless Iraq proves before then that it has disarmed -- requires nine "yes" votes. Approval also requires that France, Russia and China withhold their vetoes -- either by abstaining or voting in favor.\nThe United States is assured the support of Britain, Spain and Bulgaria, with Cameroon and Mexico believed leaning toward the U.S. position. With Germany, Syria and now Pakistan preparing abstentions or "no" votes, Washington is left trying to canvass the support of Chile, Angola and Guinea.