www.cnn.com From Elise Labott CNN Monday, January 20, 2003 Posted: 2:56 AM EST (0756 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met Sunday with the foreign ministers of France, Mexico and China, addressing what the next steps should be with Iraq and the impending report from U.N. weapons inspectors.

"He is making the point that the issue is disarmament and without Iraqi cooperation, the inspections process is not going to succeed," a senior State Department official said.

After the January 27 report from chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, the official said, the discussion will entail "how to further the question of disarmament." The Security Council is expected to meet January 29 to further discuss the inspectors' report, he said.

Though several U.S. allies on the council have said publicly the inspectors need more time, the official said that during the meetings "they all agreed Iraq is not cooperating."

"Everyone agrees Iraq is not meeting the terms of [U.N. Security Council resolution] 1441," the official said, noting previous comments by Blix and others about "passive" or "superficial" cooperation by Iraq.

Powell plans more meetings Monday on the sidelines of a Security Council meeting on combating terrorism. In addition to Iraq, he will be discussing the crises in North Korea and Venezuela.

The United States faces growing opposition from several council members, including France, Russia and Germany, which favor giving inspectors more time. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Bush administration's closest ally in its effort against Iraq, has suggested inspections might be allowed to continue.

But Powell was expected to make the argument against that scenario, State Department officials said, because Baghdad's continued lack of cooperation with inspectors thus far is sufficient proof that Iraq is in material breach of U.N. resolutions and that military action is justifiable.

"Saddam is not doing what he is supposed to be doing, which is disarming," one senior State Department official said, pointing to chemical warheads found by U.N. inspectors last week. "It's not just doors opening, it's not even that inspectors have found things. Is Iraq disarming? No, it is not."

Officials say that while the United States may have no "smoking gun" to prove Iraq has amassed weapons of mass destruction, Iraq's unwillingness to cooperate is far more important.

"It's easy for this process to get away from us," another official said. "Everyone keeps putting the onus on us to find a smoking gun, but the onus is on Iraq. Iraq is on parole, and it has to show it is ready to rehabilitate itself."

This official said that Powell will push council members to focus on securing more intrusive inspections to "test Iraq's due diligence," including certain statements made by Iraqis about their willingness to cooperate and their previous weapons declarations.

This official likened Iraq's cooperation to "opening yourself up to an audit."

"If you have nothing to hide, you do everything you can to prove you are innocent," the official said. "We have yet to see this type of cooperation."

Although Powell said earlier that a "convincing case" would exist by the end of the month that Iraq was not cooperating, the official acknowledged the United States could give inspectors more time.

"We could give them (Iraqi officials) some more rope to hang themselves," this official said, adding the time frame could last until the end of February.

www.afxpress.com Page Last update 01:05:02 GMT

CARACAS (AFX) - Daily crude production has risen to 2 mln barrels and the government has regained control of the country's main oil installations, said Ali Rodriguez, president of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

New managers, supervisors and workers are now in place to run the sites, daily El Nacional quoted him as saying on its website.

President Hugo Chavez said Friday that production would be ramped up to 2 mln bpd within a month.

Venezuelan oil output, normally around 2.8 mln bpd, has been brought close to standstill in recent weeks by a long-running strike.

Strike organisers have consistently estimated daily production levels at far below the figures the government has claimed.

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www.voanews.com VOA News 20 Jan 2003, 08:06 UTC

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has threatened to order more raids on private food producers taking part in a seven-week-old strike aimed at driving him from power.

The strike has created severe shortages of many necessities in Venezuela, including milk, bottled water, flour, and gasoline.

On Friday, government troops seized bottles of water and soft drinks from two bottling plants and distributed them to the public. And Mr. Chavez warned Sunday he will again send soldiers to raid the warehouses of private companies refusing to distribute their goods to the public.

President Chavez also said the government is winning what he called the oil war with striking workers, which has crippled the country's oil industry. He said output was recovering, but a strike leader said the industry remains paralyzed. Prior to the strike Venezuela was the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chavez has suggested the government might leave talks sponsored by the Organization of American States, if the opposition continues to seek his ouster through what he calls unconstitutional means.

Opposition leaders accuse Mr. Chavez of leading Venezuela to ruin with leftist economic policies that mirror the Cuban system.

In another development, President Chavez named two generals to key posts. He appointed General Jorge Garcia Carneiro, a close ally, to command the country's army and General Lucas Rincon as his new interior minister.