Powell discusses Iraq Venezuela with Security Council members

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.