Blair: Veto will let Iraq off hook

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has told France and Russia that pledging to veto a second resolution on Iraq would let Saddam Hussein "off the hook."

Blair vowed to work "night and day" to find common ground among U.N. Security Council members to obtain a fresh resolution, despite France and Russia already declaring they would use their vetoes.

Following talks at Downing Street Tuesday with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, Blair said countries that sought to divide Europe from America were on "dangerous" ground.

Asked how he could now find agreement on a second resolution, the PM said: "If France or any other country is simply going to say we will veto no matter what, that is obviously a very difficult position.

"Because when we passed resolution 1441 and called upon Iraq to disarm and to co-operate fully with the inspectors, then everybody, including France and Russia, accept there is no full cooperation.

"If we agreed that position then we have to follow it through. But I hope we won't talk about vetoes in any set of circumstances or in all sets of circumstances, but rather we will try to find the common ground that allows us a way through here," he told ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

"My concern is that if countries talk about using a veto in all sets of circumstances, the message that sends to Saddam is 'you are off the hook' and I think that would be very unfortunate."

Tests for Saddam?
Meanwhile, the British government says it is looking "favorably" at language in a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would set benchmarks for Iraqi disarmament compliance.

"Other Security Council partners have put forward the idea of setting tests to determine Iraqi compliance, and that is something we are looking at favorably," a Downing Street spokesman said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said any U.S.-led strike on Iraq without approval of the Security Council would "not be in conformity" with the U.N. charter. He also said the "legitimacy" of any action against Iraq would be "seriously impaired" if the council could not come to an agreement beforehand. (Full story)

Also Monday, U.S. and British officials pressed chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix about discovery of an unmanned drone plane in Iraq -- which he disclosed in a written report but did not discuss in a presentation to the Security Council last Friday.

Emerging from a closed-door meeting with council members, Blix said the drone was discovered during an inspection "relatively recently" and was being further investigated.

"Iraq should have declared this vehicle," he said. "They did not."

However, while U.N. resolutions required Iraq to disclose the existence of the drone, Blix said it is still unclear whether the drone itself violates U.N. restrictions on Iraqi weapons. The unmanned plane would only be a violation if its range exceeds 93 miles (150 km) or if it was built to carry chemical or biological weapons, he said.

U.S. officials have complained that by not mentioning the drone in his remarks, Blix deliberately downplayed the discovery, which the United States believes bolsters its case that Iraq is defying the inspection regime. But Blix said the drone information was part of an interim report on outstanding disarmament issues that was not part of the mandate for Friday's council update.

The wrangling over the inspection work comes as Britain, the United States and Spain continued to lobby Security Council members for approval of the new resolution, with its March 17 deadline for Iraqi compliance.

A vote was initially expected Tuesday, but, with discussions continuing, it has slipped until later in the week. However, U.S. officials said they will insist that a vote be taken this week.