A rchive Date
[ 21-02-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.N ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/02/21/29531-ap.html
United States and Britain to present new resolution to UN next week
Fri, February 21, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States and Britain plan to present a new resolution to the UN Security Council Monday in a bid to gain support for using force to disarm Iraq.
The move runs against strong sentiment within the council that force as an option should be set aside at least until UN weapons inspectors working in Iraq report their findings in mid-March. The two allies evidently are willing to risk diplomatic defeat. But U.S. President George W. Bush has vowed to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein one way or another, with UN support or with the help of a "coalition of the willing."
As pressure increased on Iraq to prove it has given up weapons of mass destruction, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday the buildup of tens of thousands of U.S. and British troops in the Persian Gulf region has reached the point that they could launch an invasion if the president orders one.
Asked on PBS television whether the forces massed in the area were ready to go to war, Rumsfeld replied: "Yes."
Finishing touches were being put on the resolution. France, which heads an antiwar bloc, has the power to kill it by veto.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said a headcount of who was for or against a new resolution on the 15-member council would be "academic" because the resolution demanding Iraqi disarmament had not been put forward.
"We won't put a resolution down unless we intend to fight for the resolution, unless we believe we can make the case that it is appropriate," Powell said at a news conference.
Powell, who was due to fly to Japan on Friday for the start of a five-day Asia trip dominated by concern over North Korea's nuclear program, juggled resolution diplomacy with negotiations with Turkey, a potential key ally in a war with Iraq.
The Turkish ambassador to Washington, Faruk Logoglu, told The Associated Press on Thursday that "we are very close to an agreement" on a U.S. economic assistance package that could set the stage for stationing American troops on Turkish soil.
Even if the Security Council does not approve a new resolution it "doesn't necessarily mean that the Turkish parliament will reject the issue," Logoglu said.
Romania, an ally in the event of war, permitted four U.S. military transport planes carrying troops and equipment to land near its Black Sea coast Thursday night in what appeared to be the start of a new stage of the buildup of forces against Iraq.
The planes, which landed at the international airport in Constanta, carried some 250 troops as well as equipment and food. They were to remain in Romania until Monday, said Alexandru Bazdac, an airport official in Constanta.
Turkey has demanded $10 billion US in aid, while the United States offered some $6 billion US.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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