US takes war campaign back to UN

The US took its campaign for war with Iraq behind the UN Security Council’s closed doors tonight only hours after President Bush left the world in little doubt that conflict to remove Saddam Hussein was all but inevitable.

The chief UN nuclear inspector pleaded for more time to search for banned weapons in Iraq as he stepped into the council chamber in New York

“We need to make quick progress on all fronts,” said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Time is running out” for Iraq to comply and that the international community is growing “impatient,” he said.

The Council was quizzing ElBaradei and chief weapons inspector Hans Blix about elements of their report and their findings over 60 days of inspections in Iraq.

Their differing, but ultimately negative reports, were used by Bush to strengthen arguments for possible war.

He had laid out his case against the Iraqi dictator to Congress and the American public in his State of the Union speech.

“It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known,” Bush said, accusing Saddam of providing support to international terrorists.

“We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes,” he said. “We will prevail”.

In a bid to win over reluctant allies, Bush said that the US will make available damning new evidence against the Iraqi dictator on February 5.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell will present the council with “information and intelligence about Iraq’s illegal weapons programmes, its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors, and its links to terrorist groups,” Bush promised in his speech.

Bush said America would consult with council members – but if Saddam does not disarm, “we will lead a coalition to disarm him.”

“Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent,” Bush said. “Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?

“If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy and it is not an option.”

His tough comments appeared to have the desired effect on his domestic audience, which aides knew had yet to be convinced that a war was the right course to follow with Iraq.

In a CBS poll taken immediately after his speech, 77% of Americans said they now supported military action against Saddam Hussein.

Bush used the annual speech to outline allegations of links between Baghdad and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida that went further than any previous White House claims.

He pointed to reports from detainees that Saddam is helping al-Qaida members, and other terrorists: “Secretly,” Bush said, “and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.”

And he said the presence of US forces in Iraq would be entirely benign.

“We will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies and freedom,” he said.

Iraq instantly denied dealings with al-Qaida or possessing illegal weapons: Iraq has no ties to al-Qaida terrorists and no weapons of mass destruction, “I absolutely deny that,” Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said today.

Aziz also said Iraq was ready for war “tomorrow” and was prepared for the “worst scenarios.”

“The Americans can inflict damage on our country as they did in 1991,” he said. “But this nation is brave enough and capable enough of protecting its sovereignty. If they dare to invade Iraq, they will suffer great losses, and they will lose in the end.”

Aziz also repeated Iraq’s denials it has chemical and biological weapons, specifically materials to produce anthrax and botulin toxin.

“The accusations of Mr Bush in his statement last night are baseless, simply baseless,” he said.

Before entering the Security Council tonight, Russian UN Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was not easing its opposition to a US led attack on Iraq now. He claimed comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin had been misinterpreted.

“He said, ‘We believe that inspections must continue, and that if Iraq stops co-operating with inspectors and starts blocking inspections we must look into it,”’ Lavrov said.

Russia, Iraq’s most powerful council ally, however, added to growing pressure on Baghdad to comply with weapons inspectors.

Lavrov was asked what kind of evidence from the United States would convince Moscow that Iraq was in material breach of UN Security Council resolutions.

“We would like to see undeniable proof,” he said.