Faced with defeat at the UN Security Council, the United States yesterday delayed until Monday a vote on a resolution that would be a trigger for war with Iraq, while hinting that it might withdraw the resolution and rely on previous UN votes to justify war.
In a desperate search for a majority vote on the 15-member Security Council, Britain proposed rewriting the resolution and removing any specific deadline for Iraq to disarm.
The deadline, of no more than a week, would be included instead in a side paper which would list demands for Saddam Hussein to avoid war, diplomats at the UN said last night as the Security Council went into closed session.
In a day of confusion at the White House, President Bush cancelled an appearance at the Speaker's St Patrick's Day lunch to continue telephoning world leaders for support, and US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said America was reconsidering its options.
The US was still seeking a formula that would not draw a veto, he said, "but the options remain: go for a vote and see what members say or not go for a vote." French Foreign Minister Mr Dominique de Villepin, who has threatened to veto any resolution, provoked fury in London and Washington by rejecting Britain's proposal to list tasks for Saddam Hussein to disarm.
British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said he found it "extraordinary" that Mr de Villepin would do so "without even proper consideration". Mr Powell noted that a "permanent member" of the council rejected the proposal and that Iraq did the same.
Later Mr de Villepin protested that "we are prepared to move forward in the search for a solution, and we are in constant contact with all of our partners in the UN Security Council".
He said the aim was "to try, within the logic of the inspectors' work, to determine both a work programme with benchmarks, with criteria, and a realistic and reasonable timeframe, that will allow forward movement on the path of peaceful disarmament of Iraq".
Iraq dismissed the British proposals as "an attempt to beautify a rejected aggressive project". But an Iraqi diplomat said Baghdad would present a report on its disposal of VX nerve agent today and on anthrax in a few days' time.
UN weapons inspector Dr Mohamed ElBaradei tried to broker a compromise by offering to return to Baghdad to help see a timetable of tasks carried out, with staggered deadlines and no ultimatum for war.
At the White House, spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer said that if the resolution failed the US would still disarm Saddam Hussein and would claim legality on the basis of UN resolutions from 1991 which Iraq had ignored, nullifying the Gulf War ceasefire.
"The President is going the extra mile for diplomacy, but there is a limit to how far he will go," said Mr Fleischer. But in a sign that Washington is not quite ready to proceed without UN backing, Mr Fleischer said Mr Bush still wanted to see council members "raise their hands and take a vote".
Britain's Queen Elizabeth postponed a visit to Belgium next week on the advice of the government as war preparations continued unabated. A high-level Arab peace mission to Iraq was also postponed.
The White House is preparing a presidential address which is said to include an ultimatum for Saddam Hussein, giving him a date after which military action could be launched that would also give weapons inspectors and humanitarian workers time to leave Iraq.
In a blow to the US and Britain, Guinea, one of six undecided nations, announced on state radio that it might abstain after US officials said on Wednesday it would support Washington. Chile's President Ricardo Lagos, asked to confirm reports he would side with the US, answered, "No, that is not true."
Iraqi technicians destroyed three more banned al-Samoud missiles, taking the total destroyed to 61 out of some 120.
UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan said that he had received a suggestion from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the United Nations convene a summit of world leaders who are not Security Council members to help search for a compromise.