Russia and France said on Wednesday a revised UN draft resolution on disarming Iraq had moved closer to their own positions and stressed their strong Opposition to any automatic recourse to military action. The United States presented its revised resolution to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. It hopes it will be adopted by the end of the week. The text requires weapons inspectors to report to the Security Council any failure by Iraq to meet its obligations to disarm. It threatens Iraq with ‘‘serious consequences’’ and says failure to comply would constitute a ‘‘further material breach’’ of accords ending the 1991 Gulf War — a phrase which could be interpreted as a licence to use force. It is the third to be drafted following objections from France, Russia and China. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told Itar-Tass news agency the draft contained ‘‘several additional steps which take into account Russia’s position’’. Moscow has repeatedly called for the fastest possible return of UN arms inspectors to determine whether Iraq holds dangerous weapons. But Fedotov said Russia remained opposed to any provision automatically granting Washington the right to attack Baghdad if it were deemed in violation of obligations to allow inspections to work unhindered. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Parliament progress had been made on France’s key demands, namely for a two-step strategy. This would start with sending arms inspectors to Iraq. The option of military action would be reviewed at a later stage if needed.
