U.S. and Britain will try to sway U.N. nations

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Britain have decided that their strategy in the United Nations will be to try to persuade nine of the 15 members of the Security Council to back a new resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq and then to challenge France, Russia or China to veto the will of the council's majority, administration officials said on Thursday.

American and British officials worked on Thursday to bridge their own differences over the resolution's language while refining it to attract the support of as many council members as possible. Administration officials said that the negotiations would delay the resolution's introduction until next week, possibly on Monday.

One point of disagreement was a desire by British diplomats to include in the resolution an explicit deadline for Iraq to disclose its weapons and start disarming, administration officials said. American officials were said to be reluctant to include such a provision.

The strategy reflects an evolution in the two countries' thinking. A month or so ago, they were still hoping for unanimous council approval.

Some officials involved in the discussions argued that a resolution approved by a divided council -- with those nations holding veto power abstaining -- would be viewed by the world as so weak that it might be preferable to go to war without any resolution at all.

In the past few weeks, however, administration officials have concluded that a resolution with a weak majority would still have authority.

The Security Council on Thursday put off until March 7 the next report by Hans Blix, the chief U.N. inspector for chemical and biological weapons. An administration official said that British diplomats wanted the resolution to make reference to this presentation as the last chance for President Saddam Hussein of Iraq to avoid war.

Part of the discussion this week, according to knowledgeable diplomats, is what it might take to win over six wavering council nations, known informally as "the middle six": Angola, Guinea, Cameroon, Mexico, Chile and Pakistan, countries that do not command a great deal of diplomatic attention, as a rule.

It takes nine votes to pass a resolution, and the United States and Britain have only two allies committed to voting in favor of authorizing the use of force, Bulgaria and Spain. If Russia, France and China -- the other permanent members -- vote no, the resolution is killed. However, members have the option of abstaining.

The strategy is now one of trying to get Russia, France and China to acquiesce by abstaining, perhaps under pressure, if there is a solid base of 9 or 10 votes in favor. But many in the administration concede that this would be extremely difficult to achieve.

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