WASHINGTON, 21 September — Russia and the United States failed yesterday to resolve differences on what is emerging as the key issue in the Iraq crisis — US insistence that UN weapons inspectors cannot return until the UN has passed a stern new resolution spelling out the consequences if Baghdad fails to cooperate.
After a meeting with President Bush in the Oval Office, Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, said merely that the two sides will pursue their exchange of views on how to make the work of the inspectors more effective, a formulation indicating that in contrast to the US, Russia does not believe a new resolution is required, following Saddam Hussein’s about face on Monday on readmitting the inspectors.
Bush’s talks with Ivanov, accompanied by Sergei Ivanov, the defense minister, were a key element in the US diplomatic offensive to win support for a new resolution. Russia, with its veto powers on the Security Council and significant economic ties with Baghdad, represents the biggest single obstacle in the way of that goal.
White House officials were optimistic afterward that Russian readiness to keep talking was a sign that Moscow could be flexible. Before meeting the defense and foreign ministers, Bush spoke by phone with President Vladimir Putin, pressing his arguments and, some suspect, offering promises on post-Saddam Iraq that could win Moscow over.
If not, however, Washington will play tough. In a thinly veiled threat, Secretary of State Colin Powell bluntly told a congressional committee that the US would prevent the inspectors’ return unless they were armed with a resolution spelling out the consequences if Iraq did not grant them full and unfettered access to all suspect sites.
This reflects irritation in the White House at the speed with which Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, accepted Saddam’s promise to readmit the inspectors without condition.
As it is, Hans Blix, head of UNMOVIC, the UN weapons monitoring body which replaced UNSCOM, said this week that inspectors could be back on the ground in Iraq by Oct. 15. This would start a phased inspection timetable, including a few early requests for access designed to test Saddam’s willingness to let them work freely. For all its threats, the administration is acutely aware that to block the inspections would play very badly, not only abroad, but also at home and on Capitol Hill. (The Independent)
