Weapons inspectors prepare for crucial report

UNITED NATIONS -- Preparing for a crucial report on the work of his inspectors in Iraq, Hans Blix said Thursday his teams are gaining access to sites but Baghdad still isn't fully cooperating with the inspectors.

In the meantime, diplomats said there was talk of formulating a second resolution condemning Iraq but stopping short of explicitly authorizing military action.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States was open to the idea of a second resolution but the French ambassador, who is currently the president of the Security Council, said a majority of the council wouldn't support it now.

Blix told The Associated Press Thursday that his assessment of Iraq's compliance over the past two months will be presented Monday to the Security Council as a speech, rather than a formal report, and won't include samples taken during searches for weapons in Iraq.

The report will be crucial for any U.S. decision to press the Security Council for military action against Iraq. Under U.N Security Council Resolution 1441, crafted by Washington, Iraq could be found in "material breach" -- diplomatic language which could open the door to war -- if it fails to cooperate with inspectors and disarm.

According to the resolution the council is required to hold consultations over the inspectors' report. But the United States believes it doesn't need Security Council approval to launch an attack if Iraq is failing to disarm.

Other countries disagree, including France, Germany, Russia and China, which all believe a second resolution would be needed to authorize force. At this stage, all four countries are against military intervention in Iraq and want inspectors to be given more time.

Several diplomats said there was discussion about bringing a second resolution to the council which would condemn Iraq for failing to comply with inspectors but stop short of authorizing military action.

Such a resolution could be seen as a compromise between the United States and allies who are unwilling to strike at Iraq in absence of concrete evidence that it is rearming.

In Washington, Powell addressed the possibility of a second resolution for the first time in two months, saying it was "an open question right now."

"I think we have always held a position that there is probably sufficient authority in earlier resolutions or in 1441, but we know that many of our colleagues in the Security Council would prefer to see a second resolution if it comes to the use of military force."

But French ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, speaking at the United Nations Thursday, said: "I'm not sure that a majority of the Security Council is ready to adopt such a resolution. We see no need to another resolution for the time being."

Deputy Russian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov agreed, saying Moscow wasn't ready to throw its support behind a second resolution, whether it authorized force or simply condemned Iraq again.

Blix said his speech isn't written yet but that it will build on an assessment he presented to the council on Jan. 9 in which he criticized Iraq for failing to provide pro-active cooperation and fresh responses to hundreds of questions inspectors have on the fate of Iraq's former biological, chemical and nuclear programs. At the time Blix said inspectors hadn't found any "smoking gun," in Iraq.

Since then, his teams have uncovered 16 warheads which he said Iraq didn't adequately account for in its 12,000-page arms declaration. Inspectors also uncovered some 3,000 pages of documents at the home of an Iraqi scientist, some of which Blix said should have been mentioned in the weapons declaration as well.

Blix said tests were still being conducted on some of the warheads. None of the results however will be detailed in Blix's report to the council Monday.

"This is far too technical a matter to bring up unless we find something sensational in a sample but I have not had such a report yet," Blix said.

Blix criticized Iraq for blocking his teams from using an American U-2 spy plane to search for Baghdad's weapons.

"I realize there are things that have gone well like access and setting up infrastructure. But there are other areas where we are not satisfied and the U-2 is one of them," Blix said.

U-2 flights were a mainstay of the first hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction from 1991-1998. American pilots flew them, but the plane, used by the United States for reconnaissance since the 1950s, was repainted in U.N. colors and followed flight paths ordered by U.N. inspectors.

The United States has offered UNMOVIC, the current U.N. inspection agency, the use of the craft for inspections that resumed in November after a four-year absence. But the Iraqi government has resisted allowing U-2 overflights at a time when the U.S. military is massing troops near Iraq's border for a possible attack.