WASHINGTON, 23 October — Russia yesterday rejected a fresh US draft of a UN resolution on Iraq as Washington showed its impatience with the United Nations over arms inspection. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov criticized the US resolution, saying it did not meet Moscow’s requirements and was "unacceptable".
"The draft put forward by the Americans does not at all meet (the Russian) criteria," Ivanov said in televised remarks. "The American draft, the resolution which was submitted yesterday for preliminary discussion among the five permanent members of the Security Council, does not, for the moment, meet the criteria which we set down before and stand by now," he added, noting Moscow was concerned to avoid a resolution that might automatically allow the use of force against Baghdad. "Active consultations will therefore continue on this issue both within the Security Council and outside it," Ivanov said.
The latest text of Washington’s draft resolution, to be presented to the UN Security Council, drops its two most troublesome points — explicit authorization to use force against Iraq and a proposal for inspectors from the five veto-wielding Council members to accompany UN arms inspectors. But it still provides some legal cover to attack Iraq with a warning of serious consequences if Baghdad obstructs inspections, citing its earlier breaches.
Ivanov said it was in Russia’s interests "that a mutually acceptable decision be found to this issue to safeguard unity within the Security Council, first and foremost among the five permanent members".
Speaking after talks with chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, Ivanov said he had discussed the resolution with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. De Villepin said some progress was still needed to reach an overall balance acceptable to all.
Washington expressed impatience. "We will continue to work in the United Nations," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters on Air Force One as President George W. Bush traveled to Pennsylvania. "It is coming down to the end. The United Nations does not have forever, and we’ll continue to work it and see when we get an agreement, if we get an agreement, how to proceed."
US and British warplanes attacked Iraqi air defenses in a northern "no-fly" zone yesterday after Iraqi forces fired on patrolling jets, the US military said. In Baghdad, an air defense spokesman confirmed the raid but he said it targeted civilian installations.
The official Iraqi news agency INA said Saddam met senior military officers to discuss contingency plans. Military Industries Minister Abdul Tawab Mulla Howeish, the chief of Iraq’s anti-aircraft defenses, Gen. Mozahem Saab Al-Hassan, and other high-ranking defense officials attended the meeting.
