U.S. Puts Full-Court Press On U.N.

The United States resumed lobbying Monday for a strong U.N. resolution demanding that Iraq disarm, preferably with a threat of severe consequences if Iraq does not comply.

The U.S. campaign for maximum pressure on Iraq gathered strength over the weekend when Saudi Arabia said it would back action against Iraq if the United Nations approved it.

Secretary of State Colin Powell returned to New York from a weekend in Washington and told Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel at a meeting that the United States wanted full support for its demands on Iraq, a U.S. official said.

Powell will bring up Iraq at every meeting Monday, the official said. He has meetings later in the day with foreign ministers from three of the 10 nonpermanent U.N. Security Council members -- Colombia, Mexico and Syria.

Every vote could count in the Security Council, where resolutions need the support of nine out of 15 members, with no veto from any of the five permanent members -- Britain, France, Russia, China as well as the United States.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will have talks earlier in the day with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, whose country has so far rejected the U.S. and U.N. demand for unrestricted U.N. inspections of its arms programs.

President Bush on Thursday challenged the United Nations to enforce a decade of resolutions against Iraq. U.S. officials say that if the United Nations fails the United States might take unilateral military action.

Powell said in television interviews Sunday that he wanted the United Nations to pass a resolution within weeks, setting a short deadline for Iraqi compliance.

The British ambassador to the United Nations, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said Monday he did not expect diplomats to start work on the language of a resolution until next week.

"Everyone is talking concepts now. There needs to be a gradual building up, so I would expect it to be next week rather than this week," he told Reuters.

But the U.S. official said the United States expected to draft elements of a resolution by Wednesday and wanted the measure circulated among Security Council members by Friday.

Arab countries have opposed the threat of military action against Iraq but Saudi Arabia indicated on Monday that it would change its position if Washington won U.N. backing.