U.S., U.N. Try To Solve Iraq Impasse

Chief Weapons Inspector To Meet With Colin Powell In Washington

(CBS)  Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix says only some "loose ends" stand in the way of resuming his hunt for hidden arms depots in Iraq. But Secretary of State Colin Powell intends to slow him down.

At their meeting scheduled for late Friday, Powell is willing to talk about inspection arrangements, but he also is determined to get a new U.N. resolution through the Security Council with tough provisions. That included a threat to use force if President Saddam Hussein refuses to disarm before Blix's team gets going.

"We have to disarm Iraq, and the President is quite willing to do what is necessary to bring that about," Powell said Thursday.

The U.S. is also insisting Iraq agree to give the inspectors full access. Iraq has said certain "presidential sites" would be off-limits to the U.N. inspectors.

CBS News White House Correspondent Peter Maer reports President Bush will travel to Cincinnati Monday to deliver what one official describes as "a speech to the heartland" on the issue of Iraq. The speech, announced Friday, is aimed at stepping up pressure on Congress.

CBS News State Department Correspondent Charles Wolfson reports that Powell described the ongoing talks at the U.N. as "intricate" but said the Security Council must find a way to pressure Iraq before weapons inspections begin.

The U.S. diplomatic drive is in high gear but gaining little ground, as Russia and France continue to resist threatening Iraq. Those countries remain inclined to take Saddam up on his offer to admit inspectors under old U.N. resolutions that uncovered some weapons but not all the United States suspects are hidden away.

Faring much better is President Bush's pitch to Congress for authority to use force against Iraq. The House International Affairs Committee voted its approval 31-11 on Thursday and Senate leaders predicted wide margins of bipartisan support.

"It's up to us today to send a message to the world," said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott. He predicted Congress would give Bush the authority he wants by next week and "set in motion the beginning of the end of Saddam Hussein."

Meanwhile, an Iraqi newspaper on Friday urged the U.N. Security Council to oppose a U.S. draft resolution that would authorize the use of force against Iraq, calling President Bush "the Hitler of Washington."

"The Security Council, with its permanent and non-permanent members, should take a firm stand against this U.S. attempt and not bend to pressure and blackmails on the expense of Iraq," al-Thawra newspaper of the ruling Baath party said in a front-page editorial.

The daily was commenting on the U.S. drive for a tough Security Council resolution.

But al-Thawra said such a resolution would be used by the United States to add a false international legitimacy to its war against Iraq.

"The duties of the Security Council are those which are defined by the U.N. charter, not those desired by the Hitler of Washington," the newspaper said, referring to Mr. Bush.

In advance of their meeting at the State Department, which Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was expected to join, Powell and Blix both tried to avoid any sign of serious disagreement. Powell has praised the U.N. disarmament chief, and while Blix said Thursday he was ready to return to Iraq "at the earlier practical opportunity," he also said "we have not purchased the air tickets yet."

"It would be awkward if we were doing inspections and a new mandate with new changed directives arrive," he told reporters after briefing the Security Council on the agreement he reached with Iraq earlier in the week.

Echoing what some delegations were saying privately at the United Nations, Blix said, "It would be better to have those early."

In other developments:

• The Common Council in Ithaca, New York, unanimously approved a resolution asking its representatives in Congress to vote against allowing President Bush to declare war on Iraq — unless new evidence or events develop.
  
  The resolution comes a week after the famously liberal city of Santa Cruz, California, adopted a resolution denouncing any U.S.-led military strike on Iraq.
  
  
• U.N. inspectors won't resume Iraq searches until the Security Council decides on a resolution that, if approved, would give them wider access. U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan says his chief weapons inspector is preparing to return to Baghdad while the Security Council decides the issue.
  
  
• The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the CIA has not provided information sought by the panel on Iraq, impeding Congress' ability to consider the need for military action. Senator Bob Graham of Florida later met with CIA Director George Tenet and said Tenet addressed several of his concerns.