Second mandate delayed by lack of support

MORE countries yesterday lined up against war with Iraq as the US and Britain struggled to find support for a new Security Council resolution authorising force against Saddam Hussein.

The overwhelming opposition to the Bush administration's policies on Iraq voiced in the Security Council and in the streets of world capitals last weekend set back plans for the introduction of a new resolution yesterday, US and British diplomats said.

The diplomats said the very substance of the resolution envisioned just one week ago as a short and tough text had yet to be agreed upon between President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"In light of the circumstances, Washington is trying to be more creative," one diplomat said.

Diplomats said there was still a chance a draft resolution could be circulated by the end of the week but acknowledged they may need more time to decide if the declaration would include a general ultimatum or set a deadline for Saddam to comply with a set of specific measures. "All options are on the table," a US diplomat said.

Meanwhile, Turkey and the US yesterday failed again to agree on the size of an economic aid package that would open the way for Turkey's parliament to approve the deployment of tens of thousands of US combat soldiers. Turkey has delayed a vote on the troops, saying a multibillion-dollar aid package must first be approved that would compensate Ankara for any losses during a war with Iraq.

Yesterday, NATO approved the urgent deployment of AWACS radar aircraft, Patriot missile systems and chemical-biological response units to Turkey.

The decision was made by the same Defence Planning Committee that convened on Sunday to approve the start of military planning to defend Turkey, the only NATO ally bordering Iraq. The committee excludes France, which opposed the move.

At the United Nations, a second day of open debate in the Security Council got underway with early speeches from Qatar a key US ally which is hosting troops on three military bases.

"The state of Qatar supports all efforts to achieve a peaceful solution that would save Iraq and its population the devastation of a new war " Qatari Ambassador Nassir al-Nasser said. British diplomats said they were determined to fight for a new resolution, partly to counter strong public opposition to military action without UN authorisation. Mr Bush said the anti-war demonstrations were irrelevant to his duty to protect the US.

"The role of a leader is to decide policy based upon the security in this case, security of the people," he said. "Some in the world don't view Saddam Hussein as a risk to peace," he added. "I respectfully disagree.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, speaking in Rome yesterday, said the world "should exhaust all other possibilities for a peaceful settlement before war is ever contemplated. Even then, it should only be contemplated when the alternative is obviously worse."