Draft open to minor changes, says US

THE United States said yesterday it was open to changes in its Iraq resolution for tough new weapons inspections, but Russia and France are concerned it may allow the US to launch a go-it-alone war against Saddam Hussein.

The latest American text, a product of eight weeks of intense lobbying by the Bush administration, signalled significant progress and included major concessions to Security Council members concerned about setting off

another war in Iraq.

Still, France and Russia were noncommittal and spent yesterday tackling disputed points in the draft during

Security Council consultations. The US was looking for a vote today, although Syria wants it delayed until Monday because of Ramadan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone to President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. French President Jacques Chirac, in Rome, said “some adjustments must be put in place”, in the resolutions.

“We must remove some ambiguity,” Mr Chirac said.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Bush administration was open to revisions of the draft, but the hard-line provisions would remain.

The US draft includes a greater role for the Security Council, but frees the US to take military action against Iraq if inspectors say it is not complying.

In Iraq, the government-controlled media called the draft resolution a pretext for war and urged the Security Council not to bow to American demands.

“America wants to use this resolution as a pretext and a cover for its aggression on Iraq and the whole Arab

nation,” the ruling Baath Party newspaper Al-Thawra said yesterday.

“The Security Council should not give (the Americans) a pretext and a cover for the coming aggression,” it said.

For a resolution to be adopted, it needs at least nine “yes” votes and no veto by permanent members Russia, France, China, Britain and the US.