Concern over new draft Iraq resolution

Russian officials are reported to have voiced disappointment with a new US draft, while the French foreign minister said much work remained to be done on the new proposal.

The US submitted the new draft resolution to the four other permanent members of the security council - China, Britain, France and Russia - on Monday.

The wording of the draft resolution has not been disclosed.

Moscow criticised the new draft, saying it was not very different from previous proposals aimed at compelling Baghdad to disarm.

A "reliable source" in Moscow quoted by the Russian news agencies Itar-Tass and Interfax said that the document was a "serious disappointment, particularly since US officials have said a lot in recent days about being ready to take into account the positions of other countries and to find a mutually acceptable compromise".

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "Some progress is still needed and we therefore still have much work to do."

The Russian and French reaction came as the chief United Nations weapons inspector, Hans Blix, was due to meet the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, in Moscow to discuss efforts to send weapons inspectors back to Iraq.

"I think that if the Iraqis help and co-operate to create confidence that there remain no weapons of mass destruction, then I think there will be no war," Mr Blix said.

US pursues diplomacy

US President George W Bush has said he believes that Iraq can be disarmed peacefully and that he is willing to give diplomacy one more try.

His comments appeared to suggest that Saddam Hussein might be allowed to stay in power if he complied with the UN.

But the BBC's Jon Leyne in Washington describes Mr Bush's formulation as a tactical change of emphasis designed to reassure other members of the security council.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington wanted to wrap up negotiations with the new draft resolution - signalling that Washington was unlikely to compromise further.

A senior State Department official said Washington had made concessions regarding the consequences of Iraqi non-compliance with UN arms inspectors and the actual inspection regime.

France and Russia have been pushing for a two-step approach, in which a first resolution would set out new guidelines for the weapons inspections. A second would allow for force to be considered only if Iraq was deemed to have violated the first resolution.

According to US officials, the revised US text allows but does not require the Security Council to consider using force if and when the UN weapons inspectors report that Baghdad is not in compliance.