The prospects for international unity on the Iraqi crisis improved last night as the United States, Britain, Russia, France and China finalised proposals that the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, is expected to take to Baghdad later this week.
As ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council met in New York, diplomats predicted agreement on how to meet Iraq's concern about sensitive sites while preserving the integrity of arms inspections by the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM).
Fuelling optimism that air strikes could be averted, President Chirac of France said a diplomatic solution was technically within reach. Britain, France and Russia say disputed palaces could be examined by an "ad-hoc group" drawn from UNSCOM, although there are disagreements over whether Mr Annan should supervise them. Other ideas involve a role for diplomats and non-UNSCOM technical experts. Baghdad claims that UNSCOM, headed by Australian diplomat Mr Richard Butler, is an "adversary" that cannot make independent judgments about Iraq's chemical and biological weapons. But the commission's records show a pattern of Iraqi evasion and deception.
UN sources said the key question was whether Washington would accept a new formula giving UNSCOM a "core role" but not an exclusive one in inspections. The US has said it will not accept any proposal that undercuts the right of inspectors to "unrestricted and unfettered" access.
UNSCOM's job is to certify that Iraq has destroyed its weapons of mass destruction before the UN will lift sanctions imposed after the invasion of Kuwait.
A French official said yesterday Iraq had sent France a list of presidential sites which could be inspected without a time limit. A three-member UN team is currently using helicopters to help mapping of the disputed sites.
Mr Chirac wants Mr Annan to go to Baghdad after meeting the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Said al Sahhaf, in Paris, possibly tomorrow. There will clearly be no military action until Mr Annan has reported back to the UN, which could be in a week's time.
With a debate on the crisis due in the House of Commons today, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, said: "Over the last couple of weeks Saddam has shown a willingness to discuss options. These have come nowhere near meeting our requirements but it does underline . . . that as deadlines approach and pressure increases, he has shown a tendency to back down."
In Iraq, meanwhile, the state newspaper al-Jumhuriya called for volunteer "human shields" to protect Mr Saddam's palaces against the threat of air strikes. This was the first overt Iraqi threat to use human shields since the present crisis began. In recent weeks Baghdad has been assembling "people's militias" but had not specified their role.
Baghdad calls on Arab states not to be `launching pads' for a US strike; Mubarak warns that an attack could make matters worse: page 10; Clinton boxed into corner by Saddam: page 14