Security Council still divided on Iraq
Bush has said the United Nations must authorise the use of force if Saddam Hussein fails to comply with its weapons inspectors.
The permanent members met last night, with the US and Britain demanding a green light to attack if Baghdad blocks inspections again, and France, Russia and China insisting Saddam should be allowed to cooperate.
“We are making progress,” a US official said after the meeting. However, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Sergey Lavrov, said only: “We will meet again when we know what we are going to discuss.”
“I understand indirectly that there is not a particular time pressure on this, that a lot of work is going on between capitals,” said Ireland’s UN Ambassador Richard Ryan, also an elected council member. “There is the rumble of distant artillery and that is good. We as an elected member are very strong on the unity of the council and that there is a full council involvement.”
“But at this point we see the utility and the pragmatism of the permanent members trying to hammer out common positions on some of the more difficult issues at stake here.”
