France said on Friday that efforts to forge a Security Council resolution forcing Iraq to disarm were making progress, but the US reasserted its right to attack regardless of what happened at the UN.
French President Jacques Chir-ac, in Beirut for a Francophone summit, said of the month-long UN negotiations: "I believe we are progressing. The final decision is not yet made, a final accord has not been concluded yet."
France, which has veto power in the Security Council as one of the five permanent members, has led opposition to initial US proposals that called for the immediate use of force against Iraq if any Security Council member judged it to be impeding inspections.
In Washington, State Department Richard Boucher confirmed US flexibility on a UN resolution, but said the George W. Bush administration's approach was quite different from France's, which says only the Security Council can authorize military action against Iraq.
Boucher said Washington envisioned chief UN inspector Hans Blix first reporting to the Security Council if he found that Iraq was not complying with UN resolutions.
"The council, we hope, would try to deal with the problem," he said. "Our preference is that the Security Council take action if Iraq doesn't comply."
Boucher added that the US reserved the right to take military action against Iraq at any time if Bush decided it was in the interests of US national security.
No vote was expected in the 15-member Security Council until late next week at the earliest.
Russia was said to be considering trying to add some proposals of its own, and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stressed the priority was for weapons inspectors to return to Iraq after a four-year absence.
"We hope the UN Security Council will very soon be able to work out a resolution to allow for the strengthening of the inspectors' mandate and let them leave immediately for Iraq," he said. "If it is decided that tougher measures are needed, including the use of force, then only the Security Council can take such a decision," he said.
In Baghdad, Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said Iraq would not comment on the new US proposal until it received a draft, but reit-erated Baghdad's view that no new resolution was necessary.
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