UN: President Bush's attempts to garner support for a draft UN Security Council resolution authorising an attack on Iraq floundered yesterday, with three of five permanent members opposing US wishes.
In a telephone conversation with the man he calls "my friend Jock", Mr Bush heard President Jacques Chirac tell him that "France remains more than ever in favour of a two-step approach," Mr Chirac's spokeswoman, Ms Catherine Colonna, said.
France believes that delivering an ultimatum to President Saddam Hussein would force him to take a stand, and that a resolution on military action would not be needed unless Iraq actually interfered with weapons inspectors. But Paris would accept an initial resolution endorsing the return of inspectors after a four-year absence.
Ms Colonna stressed France's view was that "of the majority of the international community, given the seriousness of the decisions to be taken and their consequences". Mr Chirac reiterated France's position "that disarming Iraq is necessary and must be done within a UN framework. The objective is the rapid and unconditional return of UN inspectors to Iraq. A simple, firm resolution which shows the unity and determination of the international community could help on this front."
On Thursday, the French Prime Minister Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin said: "We must try everything before war. War is the last resort; that's why we want everything to happen through the UN." Britain is the only other permanent Security Council member to support the draft resolution, which is not expected to be made public until Monday.
During a visit by the Chinese Prime Minister Mr Zhu Rongji to Paris on Thursday, French officials said Paris and Beijing were in total accord. An attack on Iraq without Security Council agreement could have "incalculable effects", Mr Zhu said yesterday, adding that "Iraq must co-operate unconditionally with the UN".
Russia, also a Security Council member, is even more strident than France and China in its opposition to the US position, saying no new resolutions are necessary. The Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, said in Moscow yesterday the British dossier on Iraq, published on Tuesday, contained "no clear proof" that Mr Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. "That is why Russia is working so insistently for the fastest possible return to Iraq of international inspectors," Mr Ivanov added.
Mr Hans Blix, the UN's chief weapons inspector, has said an advance party could arrive in Baghdad on October 15th. Mr Ivanov said 280 inspectors from 44 countries are ready to start work. Iraq has agreed to let them, but Mr Bush says the Iraqi leader cannot be trusted. "We believe it would now be an unforgivable error to delay the dispatch of international monitors to Iraq," Mr Ivanov said.
In Washington, Mr Bush's spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer said the President was sticking to his demand for a single UN resolution authorising immediate military action. "The resolution has to make clear that Saddam Hussein is in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions. The resolution has to make clear what Iraq needs to do to come into compliance. The resolution has to make clear what will happen if Iraq does not come into compliance," Mr Fleischer said.
French officials played down the importance of visits by high-ranking US and British diplomats. The US Under-secretary of State for Political Affairs, Mr Marc Grossman, discussed the draft resolution with officials at the French Foreign Ministry and Élysée Palace, where he saw Mr Chirac's diplomatic adviser, Mr Jean-Marc de la Sablière. The political director of the British Foreign Office, Mr Peter Ricketts, also attempted to persuade Paris to lift its opposition to the US-British proposal. Mr Grossman and Mr Ricketts will travel to Moscow today for a three-way meeting with Russian diplomats.
To pass his all-or-nothing draft resolution, Mr Bush must obtain nine votes from the 15 security council members, and avoid a veto from any of the five permanent members.