The United States will seek to impose on Iraq a tight deadline of "days and weeks" rather than "months or years" to comply with a tough new UN Security Council resolution on weapons disarmament, President Bush said yesterday. He added: "We expect quick resolution to the issue."
Following intensive diplomatic exchanges at the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday, the British Foreign Minister, Mr Jack Straw, said Britain and the other four permanent members of the Security Council were discussing a new resolution, or resolutions, requiring Iraq to re-admit weapons inspectors.
Mr Bush also made clear yesterday his determination to lead military action against Iraq if the UN did not act speedily, and that US national interest would decide the issue if the Security Council did not mandate tough action.
Speaking a day after asking the UN in a speech to the General Assembly to force Iraq to disarm, Mr Bush said he wanted speedy backing from Congress for action and he could not imagine Congress members telling voters they would wait for the UN to act on a matter of US national security.
Meanwhile, pressure mounted on Iraq from UN Security Council members to comply with any new demands for weapons inspectors to return to inspect and destroy chemical, biological and nuclear weapons materials, as mandated by previous Security Council resolutions.
The US decision to ask the UN to take the initiative on Iraq brought quick results yesterday.
Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov warned Baghdad to cooperate with the United Nations or face the consequences.
Washington's willingness to work with the United Nations "opens the possibility for joint action in seeking a political settlement to this situation", he said.
Earlier, Mr Ivanov met the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and told him that there was still some room for diplomacy and that Iraq may allow weapons inspectors back in for the first time since 1998.
However, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tareq Aziz, yesterday rejected the unconditional return of the inspectors, saying the move would not avert US military designs on Baghdad.
"We do not accept Bush's conditions," he said in Baghdad. "We hope it (the attack) is not inevitable, but we are preparing for the worst scenario."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed the four other permanent Security Council members - Russia, Britain, France and China - and the 10 members elected for two-year terms, of which Ireland is one, to back a tough resolution. The US needs the support of nine members and no veto by a permanent member for any resolution to pass.
The issue of a deadline could complicate attempts to agree a resolution when the Security Council meets, possibly the week after next, diplomats said. Mr Bush emphasised yesterday after meeting African leaders at the General Assembly that he expected a UN deadline.
It was "highly doubtful" Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would meet US demands, Mr Bush said. "The reason I'm doubtful is he's had 11 years to meet the demands, and for 11 long years he has basically told the United Nations and the world he doesn't care. There will be deadlines within the resolution," he said. "We're talking days and weeks, not months and years."
The British Foreign Minister, Mr Straw, and Mr Powell spoke of resolutions in the plural, suggesting one resolution giving Iraq three weeks to accept the weapons inspectors without conditions, followed by a second to approve the use of force.
In an address to the General Assembly last night, Mr Cowen said: "Iraq had been in violation of Security Council resolutions, in particular on arms inspection, for some considerable time."
He expressed wholehearted agreement with the call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for Iraq to comply with its obligations for the sake of its own people and for the sake of world order - and that if Iraq's defiance continued, "the Security Council must face its responsibilities".