The US and Britain intended to introduce a new UN Security Council resolution yesterday that would set the stage for war in Iraq by declaring Baghdad in violation of UN demands, council diplomats said.
Britain's UN ambassador, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, was to make the formal introduction, which a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he hoped would be voted on by mid-March, a signal there would be no invasion of Iraq before that time.
Getting approval will be difficult in face of opposition from France, Russia and China, who have veto power on the 15-member council.
So far only Spain and Bulgaria support the US and Britain while the other nations have spoken in favor of France's position for continuing arms inspections or are uncomfortable in having to make a decision.
To counter the US, French President Jacques Chirac's spokeswoman, Catherine Colona, said France would put forward proposals immediately for more intrusive inspections.
"There is no reason today to interrupt the inspections and go over to another logic that would lead to war," she said.
France earlier this month circulated proposals to Security Council members calling for a tripling of inspectors and UN guards to "freeze" suspected weapons sites, and more spy plane overflights. These proposals are expected to be refined, probably in the form of an informal draft resolution.
The US has been sending senior officials to lobby council nations. Two have already visited Mexico and another went to Africa to talk to officials in Angola, Cameroon and Guinea.
At the same time US President George W. Bush has been making telephone calls to his counterparts in various nations, including Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, whose government has publicly leaned toward the French position but is still undecided.
"It is true that President Bush called President Lagos, another thing is how you interpret that," a Chilean government spokesman said.
"Chile couldn't accept pressures because it has a sovereign and autonomous foreign policy," the spokesman added in Santiago.
He said Chile would have to study the resolution.
On the other side, Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were scheduled to meet yesterday evening in Berlin to discuss their strategy.
Before the resolution is adopted or rejected Iraqi President Saddam Hussein faces a test on whether or not he will destroy dozens of missiles by this Saturday as ordered last Friday by chief UN inspector Hans Blix.
Destruction of the al-Samoud 2 missiles, which have a range that exceeds UN limits, would be a blow to Iraq as it prepares for a possible invasion by US forces.
If it does not destroy them, the US and Britain could use this as proof Iraq is not cooperating with the UN and that war is justified.
Blix said Iraq's al-Samoud 2 missiles exceeded by 33km the 150km range set by the Security Council in a 1991 resolution.
He ordered Iraq to destroy not only the missiles, but their SA-2 engines, auto-pilots, guidance and control systems, launchers, fuel, oxidizer, casting chambers, equipment and components designed for production and testing as well as software and research used to construct the missiles.
Blix was scheduled to deliver yesterday and today a list of more than 30 unresolved questions about Iraqi disarmament to his advisory board -- called a College of Commissioners -- and composed of some 16 government officials and technical experts from around the world.
After meeting the commissioners, Blix will submit a report to the Security Council in writing by Saturday. That will be followed by an oral presentation to the council, tentatively scheduled for March 7.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS