PARIS/WASHINGTON, 28 September — The United States failed yesterday to win over key UN Security Council members in its campaign to push through a tough UN resolution effectively threatening Iraq with military action.
While Washington had the firm backing of Britain, the other three veto-wielding Council members, France, China and Russia, remained steadfast in their view that weapons inspections by United Nations experts had to take place first.
French President Jacques Chirac resisted the diplomatic overtures from Washington and told US President George W. Bush in a telephone conversation that wide UN backing on disarming Iraq was the only way forward.
"The president (Chirac) also reiterated that France remains more than ever in favor of a two-step approach and that this is the view of the majority of the international community, given the seriousness of the decisions to be taken and their consequences," Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said in Paris.
France’s approach involves two UN resolutions — one on readmitting arms inspectors and a second one spelling out the consequences only if Baghdad does not let the inspectors work freely. Russia said any delay in the return of UN inspectors to Iraq would be "unforgivable" while China said a military attack without UN backing would have "incalculable consequences".
In the latest of 32 strikes in Iraq’s southern no-fly zone this year, US and British jets bombed two Iraqi surface-to-air missile sites south of the capital, Baghdad, after Iraqi forces fired on Western aircraft, a Pentagon spokesman said in Washington yesterday. Baghdad said the warplanes had attacked civilian targets in the south of the country.
Three US congressmen arrived in Baghdad to plead for unfettered access to UN arms inspectors and President Saddam Hussein’s eldest son Uday accused Washington of behaving like an "arrogant cowboy" eyeing Iraqi oil reserves. Washington sent US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman to Paris yesterday as part of its diplomatic drive. Despite his talks with French presidential advisers and Foreign Ministry officials, Chirac’s comments indicated France’s position had not changed. He travels to Moscow today.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said yesterday there was no clear proof in Britain’s dossier published this week on Iraq that Baghdad had chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Saddam agreed last week to allow in UN inspectors without conditions but the United States, whose declared policy is to seek the Iraqi leader’s removal, said he could not be trusted.
Yet both Russia and France believe his sincerity must at least be tested with an attempt to undertake the inspections. "It would now be an unforgivable error to delay the dispatch of international monitors to Iraq," Ivanov said. Chirac spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and they agreed the Iraq crisis had to be handled within a UN framework, Colonna said.
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, speaking after meeting French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in Paris, said Beijing wanted Baghdad to comply with UN disarmament resolutions without restriction. "At the same time, we have to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhu said. "If the weapons inspections do not take place, if we do not have clear proof and if we do not have the authorization of the Security Council, we cannot launch a military attack on Iraq — otherwise, there would be incalculable consequences."
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said yesterday he was confident a dispute with the United States over an attack on Iraq would be resolved and he planned a trip to Washington soon.
Fischer said Germany would do everything possible to get UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq "to avoid a great tragedy" but said the German government opposed any military strike aimed at removing Saddam Hussein.
"The solid foundation to our relationship (with the United States), the close cultural ties as well as the economic links — that’s what really counts and it will carry us through," Fischer told ARD television. "I’m certain the irritations will be removed." Top Washington officials have sharply criticized Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for an re-election campaign during which he voiced strident opposition to a US-led attack on Iraq. Fischer said he would travel to Washington in mid-October after coalition talks between his Greens party and Schroeder’s Social Democrats on forming a new government were completed. But in Washington, officials said no visit was scheduled at this point.
The US Defense Department said US and British jets hit targets near Qalat Sikur, about 200 km southeast of Baghdad about 3:45 p.m. EDT/1945 GMT, and Tallil, about 270 km southeast of Baghdad at 4:30 p.m. EDT Thursday/2030 GMT. "On an almost daily basis our aircraft are fired at by the Iraqis. Every time we fly we get shot at," Lt. Col. Dave Lapan told reporters in Washington of one of the two "no-fly zones" imposed on the country after the 1991 Gulf War. (Agencies)
