New York Times. Feb 28 2003.

"Bitterly Divided Security Council Meets on Iraq Resolution."

by TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN.

A bitterly divided Security Council met today to begin considering a resolution drafted by the United States that would find Baghdad in breach of weapons restrictions.

Diplomats in the closed, four-hour meeting were unable to resolve some of the most basic issues - including setting a date for weapons inspectors to next report to the council on the progress of their work in Iraq. Still, there were signs that Washington might have won some important diplomatic support for the document, which was offered on Monday.

Those developments came as the chief United Nations inspector for chemical and biological weapons, Hans Blix, submitted a 17-page update on Iraq's weapons programs to Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Annan will send the report to the Security Council for its initial review before debate on the report opens next week. Mr. Blix has been highly critical of the alacrity with which Iraq is complying with inspectors, but diplomats believe his report will say that Baghdad is disarming and that inspections should continue.

The United States, Britain and Spain, with the backing of Bulgaria, have jointly submitted their draft resolution to the 15-member Security Council. The measure, which sets the stage for a possible American-led invasion of Iraq, has sparked intensive lobbying on all sides.

Washington and its allies face staunch opposition on the Security Council from China, France, Germany, Russia and Syria. The six swing votes - Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan - remain undecided, though Pakistan and Mexico are seen as possibly moving into the American camp. Nine of the council's 15 members must approve a resolution for it to pass, but the United States, China, France, Russia and Britain each have veto power as permanent members of the Security Council.

The Los Angeles Times reported today that Pakistan had told Washington that it would back the draft resolution. "We are very good allies of the United States and value our relationship and want to see that blossom," The Times quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying. "The issue of Iraq will not become a problem between us."

Pakistan supported the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks, and obtaining Islamabad's support against Iraq may gain credibility among Islamic nations for the American effort on Iraq. Nonetheless, there is some talk at the United Nations that Pakistan, rather than vote for the draft resolution, may simply choose to abstain in a vote, which is expected within a few weeks.

President Bush called President Vicente Fox of Mexico over the weekend, and The Associated Press, citing a Mexican foreign policy directive it obtained, said that had helped prompt a shift away from continued inspections and toward a more hawkish stance.

The United Nations ambassadors from Guinea, Angola and Cameroon said this week that they remained undecided on the draft resolution, but that they would prefer to see inspections continue.

At the United Nations today, Chilean diplomats said their government supported an idea floated by Canada that would seek to resolve differences between the draft proposal and a more informal proposal from France, Russia, and Germany. The latter proposal offers a step-by-step program for Iraqi disarmament and seeks more time for weapons inspectors to complete their examination of Baghdad's weapons programs.

The Canadian idea, which has not surfaced anywhere in written form, considers giving Iraq until the end of March to meet a list of disarmament demands from inspectors. The White House rejected the Canadian plan on Wednesday.

President Bush also placed a call to the Kremlin today, seeking the support of President Vladimir Putin.

Although a Russian state news service said that the White House and Kremlin had "expressed the intention to increase work in the U.N. Security Council with the purpose of developing a plan of action that would guarantee the interests of the entire world community," Russia's United Nations ambassador, Sergey Lavrov, sternly dismissed the idea that Russia might be gravitating toward the U.S.

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