WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- The White House continued intense negotiations with world leaders Wednesday to gain support for the U.N. resolution authorizing military action against Iraq as Britain presented new ideas before the Security Council that could result in extending the March 17 deadline for Baghdad to disarm.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters that the United States was in the "end stages of a very serious diplomatic endeavor" as President George W. Bush continued to talk to world leaders about the resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.
Bush spent a third day making a flurry of telephone calls to leaders, including United Arab Emirates President Nuhayyan Zayid, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Russian President Vladamir Putin, all in an effort to gain support for the resolution seeking full and immediate Iraqi disarmament.
The president also talked with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and leaders from Spain and Lithuania.
The United Nations needs nine votes for approval of the measure. Russia, Germany and France have threatened to veto the resolution, opting instead for diplomacy rather than war. If the resolution passes on votes from the individual countries, a veto would supersede that approval.
In New York, Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the United Nations, was in the Security Council chambers late Wednesday afternoon putting forth what was described by diplomats as "new ideas." Those ideas were to have included extending the March 17 deadline imposed by the new resolution and six conditions for disarmament introduced in Parliament by Blair.
Sean McCormack, spokesman for the National Security Council, said diplomatic efforts at this stage were "fast-moving" and "fluid," and would not confirm that Britain was consulting with Americans on yet another resolution that would give Hussein more time, possibly 10 days beyond the March 17 deadline.
The conditions that Blair set before Parliament in London included Hussein publicly accounting for his weapons of mass destruction, Baghdad allowing 30 scientists to be interviewed outside the country, destruction of stockpiles of anthrax, other biological and chemical weapons, and al-Samoud 2 missiles. The proposal also called for Saddam to account for all unmanned drones and surrender mobile bio-warfare laboratories.
In Washington, the White House said it appreciated Britain's "benchmarks" and stressed that U.S. officials were working closely with the United Kingdom and other nations. Fleischer would not say whether the Americans would agree to the benchmarks, maintaining the United States would not "negotiate in public."
At a news conference Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said his country favored a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis and that in the event of war, terrorist organizations would undermine world stability.
According to Fleischer's afternoon briefing, Bush has said in his phone calls that he would be disappointed if nations do not support the United States.
"It is important and this is, in many ways, an important measure of these nations' commitment to the immediate disarmament of Saddam Hussein; these nations' commitment to the United Nations Security Council; and ... backing up Security Council resolutions to determine whether the United Nations Security Council will have a role as a relevant and effective body," Fleischer said.
The administration has been arguing its case aggressively, fueled by information that surfaced about Iraq's apparent production of an unmanned drone and bombs capable of dispensing chemical and biological weapons. The information was reportedly contained in a report delivered Friday to the Security Council but chief arms inspector Hans Blix did not mention it in his presentation to the panel.
Bush's efforts to convince the international community have been difficult since foreign ministers for Russia, France and Germany vowed to block the resolution's approval.
French President Jacques Chirac said Monday in a television interview that a war in Iraq could jeopardize the international anti-terrorism coalition.
