US Could Wait Week for UN Vote on Iraq: Powell

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 30, 2002

US Could Wait Week for UN Vote on Iraq: Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that the United States could wait a week before forcing a vote in the UN Security Council on a stringent resolution to disarm Iraq.

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US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that the United States could wait a week before forcing a vote in the UN Security Council on a stringent resolution to disarm Iraq.

"We're getting close to a point where we'll have to see whether or not we can bridge these remaining differences in the very near future. I don't want to give you days or a week but it certainly isn't much longer than that," Powell told reporters after talks with his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer at the State Department.

"It's in the very near future, but we are closer," he said. "We'll have to see whether or not we can get for the most part consensus on a resolution and, if not, we'll have to make a judgment as to whether we start putting resolutions up, competing resolutions for votes."

US President George W. Bush is pressing hard for a tough UN Security Council resolution to end seven weeks of wrangling and force Iraq to surrender any weapons of mass destruction. He has threatened Baghdad with military action if it fails to comply.

In its draft resolution submitted to the UN Security Council last Wednesday, the United States dropped an earlier call for "allnecessary means," while threatening Iraq with "serious consequences" -- which in diplomatic terms could include military action.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Monday challenged the US draft resolution, which he said would give the United States a "blank check" to unilateral military actions.

France and Russia have been opposing to the US pursuit of a single resolution that could authorize the use of force against Iraq.

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