West split by diplomatic war ahead of UN Iraq vote

The diplomatic battle dividing the West intensified yesterday as each side tried to woo wavering Security Council members into its camp before a UN vote on war in Iraq.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States had a "strong chance" of getting nine or 10 states in the 15-member Council to vote for a US-backed draft resolution setting a March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm. He said the US was "in striking distance" of winning passage of the UN Security Council resolution on Iraq but he would not be surprised is France blocked it with a veto.

Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Washington's closest ally, lobbied foreign leaders by phone yesterday, among them Chinese President Jiang Zemin, China's official media said.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin was about to embark on a whistle-stop tour of Guinea, Cameroon and Angola, "swing voters" in the Security Council, in the hope of persuading them to reject the US draft.

A defeat of the resolution alone is unlikely to avert war. Washington says it will lead a "coalition of the willing" into Iraq without UN approval if necessary, and more than 200,000 US and British troops are in the region, ready to strike.

But UN authorisation would be of huge value to governments of US allies in placating public misgivings - especially in Britain, whose deployment of 45,000 troops is by far the biggest after the Pentagon's.

Most Britons would support war if it had UN backing but only 15 per cent would do so without, a poll indicated yesterday. Newspapers said Blair faced a huge anti-war revolt among members of parliament in his Labour Party.

One government aide has resigned and more are said to be threatening to do the same if no UN mandate is given for war.

A Security Council resolution needs a minimum nine votes for adoption and there must be no veto by any of the five permanent members: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

Russia and China join France in opposing any resolution implicitly or explicitly authorising war. But US and British officials say a vetoed majority would be a moral victory.

"I think we have...a strong chance...that we might get the nine or 10 votes needed for passage of the resolution, and we'll see if somebody wants to veto it," Powell said yesterday.

The United States so far has the declared support of only Britain, Spain and Bulgaria. Half-a-dozen members seem to oppose it, instead wanting arms inspectors to have more time in Iraq.