December 8, 1999
Web posted at: 8:22 p.m. EST (0122 GMT)

In this story: Russia, China still seek flexibility Extension of food program expected to pass RELATED STORIES, SITES

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.S. officials, who are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to vote on a comprehensive resolution on arms control and sanctions on Iraq by the end of this week, think 11 of the 15 Security Council members would support a current draft resolution.

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Situation in Iraq

The council discussed the draft resolution Wednesday, marking the first time the full council has taken up the issue in months.

Separately, high-level U.S. and Russian officials continued talks on how to break the deadlock on key issues in the draft agreement.

Only nine votes are needed to pass the resolution, but diplomats say Russia and China, which as permanent members could veto any text, will not approve the draft as it stands now.

"Whether we have a consensus or not, it's ... time for the Security Council to come to closure on this subject, because frankly the debates we're having are not new issues; they're discussions on issues that we have been looking at for many months," U.S. Deputy Ambassador Peter Burleigh said.

But Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said the comprehensive resolution "is not ready for a vote."

Russia, China still seek flexibility

The five permanent members of the council have been meeting for weeks to draft an "omnibus" resolution that would suspend economic sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, in exchange for Iraqi compliance with arms control inspections.

Diplomats said those talks remained deadlocked, since Russia and China continued to seek flexibility from the United States and Britain on the key issue of a "trigger mechanism" -- precisely what Iraq must do to trigger the suspension of sanctions.

Russia and China say Iraq must simply show progress in implementing key disarmament tasks, rather than complete them all as the United States wants.

On Wednesday, phone calls continued among top diplomats, including U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Passage of the current British-French text would set in motion the following events:

• U.N.Secretary-General Kofi Annan approves a new arms commission chairman for Iraq within 30 days.

• The new chairman then has 45 days to develop an organization plan.

• Once new inspectors are chosen and start work in Iraq, the new chairman must submit a list of key outstanding disarmament issues within 60 days.

• During the following 120-day period, Iraqi cooperation with disarmament demands is tested; if the council is satisfied, sanctions are suspended for a period of 120 days. A renewal of suspension requires a council vote.

China and Russia fear that with procedural delays in the arms inspectors' deployment and work, it could be up to a year before sanctions are eventually suspended, and Washington could use any excuse to block sanctions relief.

Extension of food program expected to pass

One envoy involved in the negotiations told CNN that council members are keenly aware of the effect of the council's Iraq policy on U.S. domestic politics.

"If you calculate the number of days in which all tasks must be done, it seems clear that the U.S. won't have sanctions suspended before the (2000) elections," the envoy said.

China and Russia would like to see sanctions suspended as soon as possible after arms inspectors return to Iraq.

Although the resolution dictates that the ceiling on oil exports would be lifted, all funds generated by oil sales would still be monitored by the United Nations.

In a separate move, Washington planned to submit another resolution Thursday to extend the oil-for-food program for another six-month period. The current program, which was extended twice in the past month, expires at midnight Saturday.

That measure is expected to be approved regardless of any impasse on the broader resolution.

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