US agrees new plan on Saddam

Washington

As part of the deal, Bush bent to Democratic wishes and pledged to certify to Congress before any military strike, if feasible, or within 48 hours of a US attack that diplomatic and other peaceful means alone are inadequate to protect Americans from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

House minority leader Dick Gephardt announced the agreement as he emerged from an hour-long White House breakfast with Bush and headed back to Capitol Hill to brief Democrats on the wording of the resolution expected to be debated in the House International Relations Committee this week.

"Members are trying to deal with this in the right way," Gephardt told reporters after he met with his colleagues. "We've got to keep this out of politics," he added. This is about life and death."

The House resolution is similar to the one proposed last week by Bush and gives him broad powers to use military force against Baghdad if he deems it necessary.

Democrats in the Senate and moderate Republicans hope to put some checks on his authority.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, vowed to press ahead with a proposed alternative by him and Senator Richard Lugar, the senior Republican on his committee. It would place more emphasis on diplomacy and coordination with the UN. The House resolution is expected to be debated in the International Relations Committee beginning this week.

It authorises President Bush to: "Use the armed forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to, 1) defend the national security interests of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq, and, 2) to enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." As Gephardt, explained the final deal: "Iraq is a problem. It presents a problem after 9/11 that it did not before and we should deal with it diplomatically if we can, militarily if we must. And I think this resolution does that."

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush "believes it will make available the tools he needs to deal seriously with the threat that Saddam Hussein" poses.