US starts 'hardball' on draft resolution

The crunch stage of UN Security Council negotiations over a new Iraq resolution has arrived. France and Russia yesterday both circulated rival proposals to tone down a tough US draft, on which Washington could seek a vote at any time.

"The hardball is beginning," said a diplomat from one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the council, as the 15-nation body prepared for a closed-door session. At least nine "yes" votes, with no vetoes, are required if a resolution is to be approved.

The proposed US resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, gives far-reaching powers to the UN weapons inspectors and lays down a tight timetable for Saddam Hussein to comply fully with the demand for unfettered access to his suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons facilities.

If not, then he will face unspecified "serious consequences" – which France and Russia say is coded prior approval for military action against the Baghdad regime, bypassing France's public demand for a second resolution authorising the use of force.

The US however says it will not countenance anything but minor changes to its seven-page text. The tough terms, it insists, are non-negotiable.

"This is now a game of chicken," one official said. "The US is daring France and Russia to stand in its way, and risk a top level rupture in international relations. They are daring the US and Britain to go it alone, without security council approval." Washington and London believe the French can be won around, even though the best to be hoped for may be abstention. The tougher problem is Russia.

If the dispute is to be resolved by the end of next week, as an ever-more impatient Bush administration wants, officials believe the impasse will have to be settled at foreign minister level – or higher still.

Diplomats add the hostage crisis unfolding in Moscow could soften Russia's resistance. Opposition to strikes against Iraq ,which the US is framing as part of the war against terrorism, would be hard to sustain by a Russia trying to stamp out what it describes as terrorism within its own borders.

As the diplomatic manoeuvring intensified, British and US officials got down the the arduous task of cajoling and persuading – and they began counting heads on the largely sceptical full security council, as they make an effort to line up the seven additional votes they need. They are confident of four or five already and believe other potential supporters are waiting for France to show its hand.

Surprisingly, a prominent player in the manoevring could be Mexico, which has currently some serious disputes with the US, and is keen to show to the rest of the countries that it is not a mere creature of Washington.