UN receives new resolution for war on Iraq

Britain, the United States and Spain tonight submitted a new resolution to the UN seeking approval for military action against Iraq, declaring that Saddam Hussein has missed “the final opportunity” to disarm peacefully.

The resolution was formally presented by British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock on behalf of the three countries.

But France, Russia and Germany, which oppose the war option, circulated an alternative plan to pursue a peaceful disarmament of Iraq over at least the next five months. China said it also supports that proposal.

The rival positions set the stage for a heated battle over whether the council would back the US and British demand for war now or the French, Russian, and German call for war to be “a last resort”.

To pass, the US-backed resolution must have nine “yes” votes and avoid a veto by France, Russia or China. Eleven of the 15 council members want to see UN weapons inspections continue, while Bulgaria is likely to support the British plan.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged China to support the new resolution at meetings with top officials in Beijing today, but the Chinese stood by their long-standing position that UN inspections should continue.

The draft resolution does not set any deadlines. But US and British officials made clear they want the Security Council to vote by mid-March.

The resolution declares that Iraq has failed to take advantage of its last chance to disarm peacefully and therefore must face the “serious consequences” the Security Council threatened in Resolution 1441, which was adopted unanimously on November 8.

The new resolution recalls that “Iraq has been and remains in material breach of its obligations” under UN resolutions.

It also recalls that council decided on November 8 “that false statements or omissions” in its 12,000-page declaration to UN weapons inspectors “and failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and co-operate fully in the implementation of that resolution, would constitute a further material breach.”

The resolution notes that the council has repeatedly warned Iraq “that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations.” It also notes that Iraq’s December 7 weapons declaration contained “false statements and omissions”.

The resolution acts under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, making it militarily enforceable. It does not call for “all necessary means” to be used against Iraq.

Instead, its only enforcement paragraph would have the Security Council decide “that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it in Resolution 1441”.

French diplomats said the French-German-Russian plan, which includes strengthened UN weapons inspections, can be implemented under existing UN resolutions and would be submitted as a memorandum.

“The aim is to establish a timetable for Iraq’s disarmament, programme by programme, relating to weapons of mass destruction,” French president Jacques Chirac told reporters in Berlin before talks with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

“The Security Council must step up its efforts to give a real chance to the peaceful settlement of this crisis,” the French, Russian and German paper said.

Despite the contrasting positions, Britain’s Greenstock introduced the resolution at a closed council meeting Monday.

“We will be allowing a good period of up to two weeks or maybe a little more before we will ask for a decision,” Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in Brussels. “We want an international consensus.”

US President George W Bush told US governors earlier today that the resolution “spells out what the world has witnessed the last months. The Iraq regime has not disarmed. The Iraqi regime is not disarming as required by last fall’s unanimous vote of the Security Council”.

He pressed the council to adopt the resolution.

“It’s a moment for this body ... to determine whether or not it’s going to be relevant as the world confronts threats in the 21st century. Is it going to be a body that means what it says? We certainly hope so,” Bush said.

The president said the administration will work with the Security Council “in the days ahead” on the resolution. He did not set a timetable, though his spokesman said Britain’s calls for a mid-March vote was fine with the president.

Nonetheless, the next six days are critical for Saddam.