US Softened on Iraq Amid Growing Opposition

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, October 18, 2002

US Softened on Iraq Amid Growing Opposition

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Amid almost unanimous opposition from member countries of the United Nations as the Security Council debate on Iraq went into a second day, the United States on Thursday backed down from its previous demand for automatic use of force.

The US is floating a revised version of the draft threatening military strikes against Iraq, which had been prepared for nearly a month and never made public. The new proposal would be available to other four permanent members of the council, Britain, France, Russia and China, when the US may call a meeting Friday among the five veto power holding council members, a diplomat told Xinhua on conditional of anonymity.

The US compromise would give UN inspectors a chance to test Baghdad's cooperation on the ground, and it would come back to the council for further consultations on a possible second resolution authorizing force.

By giving more weight to the report of the UN inspectors, waiting outside Iraq for new instructions from the council, the revised US draft would drop tough wording on claiming the right to determine by itself when to launch a military strike.

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