US seeks second UN resolution on Iraq

Diplomatic conversations are under way concerning the language of a follow-up to United Nations Security Council resolution 1441 on Iraq, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer confirmed yesterday.

"(W)e remain in mid-diplomacy here. And I'm not going to venture in too deep on the play-by-play of diplomatic discussions," he told reporters at his noon briefing.

Officials of three of the five permanent Security Council members -- China, Russia, and France -- have said their countries oppose military action against Iraq at this time and want to give weapons inspectors more time.

"Suffice it to say, when the president said that we will go to the United Nations for a second resolution so long as it enforces resolution 1441, he said it because he does believe in the importance of the United Nations as an institution and that this is also the United Nations' last chance to show that international proliferation regimes have meaning, have effect, and are not just documents to be ignored," Fleischer said.