With France and Russia threatening veto and six members of the United Nations Security Council still finalising their strategy on Iraq, a vote on a resolution setting March 17 deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm or face war has been delayed.
The US had hoped to present the resolution to the Council on Tuesday, but it became clear last night that the US and its allies had not yet won the nine votes needed to pass the resolution.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said a vote on the resolution would not come on Tuesday as the consultations were still on. A vote can come anytime later
in the week, he said.
During a closed-door meeting last night, diplomats said British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock suggested giving Iraq 10 days to make a "strategic decision" to disarm and then some time to UN inspectors to verify the benchmarks set for it to fulfill.
Despite their high-pressure campaign on telephone to seek support of undecided members for the resolution Washington moved along with Britain and Spain, President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell have so far failed to get nine votes needed for the resolution to be adopted by the 15-member Council.
