AMERICA and its key allies were in open dispute over Iraq last night after President Bush warned the world that it could be held hostage by President Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

He faced a humiliating rebuff, however, from European leaders and from a growing majority of members of the United Nations, who are refusing to give America a mandate to use force against Iraq.

Baghdad “will give up its weapons of mass destruction” or “the United States will lead a global coalition to disarm the regime”, Mr Bush insisted as he signed a congressional resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.

Directly addressing France, Russia and other skeptics, he continued: “If Iraq gains even greater destructive power, nations in the Middle East would face blackmail, intimidation or attack. Chaos in that region would be felt in Europe and beyond . . . Those who choose to live in denial may eventually be forced to live in fear.”

France, Italy and Russia publicly decried Washington’s saber-rattling, while in New York a marathon two-day UN debate on Iraq opened with a string of countries coming out against the US position. President Chirac of France, which has spent a month resisting US demands for a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force, said on a visit to Egypt: “War is the worst response a man could imagine. Everything must be done to avoid it.”

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, said after talks with President Putin in Moscow that Iraq “does not any longer have any weapons of mass destruction because they have all been eliminated”. Signor Berlusconi agreed with Mr Putin that any UN resolution should include no reference to the use of force.

Yuri Fedotov, Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister, said America’s proposed UN resolution was “unacceptable and Russia cannot support it”.

Iraq praised the French position. “We are proud of France’s friendship for the Arabs,” Ezzat Ibrahim, the Iraqi Vice-President, said.

British sources said they feared that unless the deadlock over a new resolution was broken soon Washington’s hawks would prevail on Mr Bush to give up on the UN and take unilateral action against Iraq. Mr Bush hinted as much when he said: “If any doubt our nation’s resolve, our determination, they would be unwise to test it.”

Britain, which sees itself as a mediator, said that there was still time to find a compromise. Tony Blair told MPs: “I believe that we will achieve a consensus on this internationally and the reason for that is that most people, when they reflect upon it, do understand that weapons of mass destruction are an issue, do understand that it is not safe for the world to have chemical, biological, potentially nuclear weapons and do understand that the world community has got to make it clear that he’s got to be disarmed of those weapons. I hope that it is done through the UN, and that is what I am trying to achieve.”

Mr Bush reiterated tough conditions that he wants in a new resolution. They included: the right of inspectors to visit any sites in Iraq; the right of inspectors to interview witnesses and their families outside the country; the end of persecution of Iraqi civilians; halting the illegal smuggling of oil; and accounting for more than 600 prisoners of war missing since the Gulf War.

America wants these conditions included in a new resolution that would allow the use of force if Baghdad did not comply. The only hint of a compromise came from Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, who told The Times that full access for inspectors was the US’s bottom line. He hinted, however, that the US could drop its request for armed guards to accompany inspectors and the right to send US officials to oversee inspections.

He also tried to reassure wary allies that the US would not take automatic military action if Baghdad obstructed them. If the inspectors were prevented from doing their job “there’s going to be a discussion with the (Security) Council”, he said. State Department officials made clear, however, that General Powell intended to “get tough” with France.

But his position did not soften attitudes at the UN. Dumisani Kumalo, the South African envoy, whose country is the head of the 114-nation Non-Aligned Movement, said that the UN should accept Baghdad’s offer to allow weapons inspectors back into Iraq.

Nuclear secrets

Washington: North Korea has been forced to admit that it has been operating a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 agreement (Tim Reid writes).

Confronted with US “evidence”, according to a senior US official last night, Pyongyang admitted that it had breached the 1994 “agreed framework”, under which it pledged to freeze its nuclear weapons program The official said the White House was consulting Congress and allies about what steps to take.

Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd

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