A timeline by the chief UN arms inspector for returning to Iraq has added urgency to US efforts to drive a tough new resolution through the Security Council, which will go into overdrive this week.
The US will likely submit a draft text tomorrow, in hope of getting it adopted before Hans Blix resumes talks with Iraqi officials on practical aspects of inspections in Vienna as of Sept. 30, diplomats said.
"They might leave it to Wed-nesday," one council member said, "but that would leave little time for consultations before the weekend, when Blix will be on his way to Vienna."
A resolution needs the support of at least nine of the 15 members of the Security Council and can be vetoed by any of the five permanent members, known as the P5.
Iraq told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week that it was willing to let the inspectors return "without conditions" for the first time since they pulled out in December 1998.
The announcement -- made Sept. 16, four days after US President George W. Bush challenged the UN to enforce its demand that Iraq disarm -- revealed a deep split between council members.
One of the P5, Russia, said it was against any new resolution on Iraq. Differences with Washington persisted after Bush met Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov at the White House.
Two other P5 members, China and France, have left little doubt that they would not agree to US demands for an explicit threat of force against Iraq -- at least not in a first resolution.
The P5 ambassadors are expected to meet before the entire council joins Annan for their monthly lunch later today.
One US official said council negotiations will be difficult, particularly if Washington insists on trying to scrap a February 1998 agreement, signed by Annan and promising that UN inspectors would "respect the legitimate concerns of Iraq relating to national security, sovereignty and dignity" at eight presidential sites.
Iraq, for its part, defiantly announced Saturday that it would not accept any fresh conditions on disarmament.
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