The US and Britain forged an agreement on the key elements of a tough new UN resolution setting out demands that Iraq disarm, while the Bush administration sought on Thursday to tie Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to the Al Qaeda network. US Congressional leaders reported progress towards a resolution authorising military force against Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he has dispatched State Department official Marc Grossman to Paris and Moscow to explain the highlights of a new UN Security Council resolution, including consequences if Iraq fails to comply with requirements that it give up its weapons of mass destruction. ‘‘We came into agreement with the UK on what we thought a good resolution looked like and should contain,’’ Powell told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Powell said the US and UK have begun consultations with Russia, France and China. He said the US insisted the measure find Iraq in violation of previous UN resolutions, specify what it must do to comply and ‘‘determine what consequences will flow from Iraq’s failure to take action.’’ ‘‘This time, unlike any time over the previous 12 years of Iraqi defiance, there must be hard consequences,’’ Powell added. Defence Secretary Rumsfeld said Al Qaeda leaders have been in Baghdad in recent weeks. ‘‘We have . credible information that Iraq and Al Qaeda have discussed safe-haven opportunities in Iraq, reciprocal non-aggression discussions,’’ he said at the Pentagon.
