US seeks support for Iraq air strikes

Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State, is to come to Europe to discuss the Iraq crisis with Britain, France and Russia. Patrick Cockburn reports on American moves to gain support for renewed air strikes.

The attacks would be intended to to force Iraq to comply with UN resolutions on inspection of its weapons of mass destruction. Only Britain, of the five permanent members of the Security Council, fully supports the US position on the use of force against Iraq. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, told the Arabic daily al-Hayat: "We hope that diplomatic efforts to end the crisis will succeed. But we are not willing to rule out any option at this stage."

Mrs Albright will meet Hubert Vedrine, French Foreign Minister, Robin Cook, British Foreign Secretary and Yevgeny Primakov, Russia's Foreign Minister. A US official said she would probably see him in Madrid. Russia has sent Viktor Posuvalyuk, its deputy foreign minister, to Baghdad to try work out a compromise over the inspection of presidential palaces and other strategic sites.

Russia is still pledged to veto the Security Council's decision to take military action but France and China seem to be wavering in their opposition to America and Britain's stance, Russian officials said.

Mrs Albright and William Cohen, US Defence Secretary, may go on to the Gulf to explain moves against Iraq, diplomats in the area said. A Western diplomat in Kuwait was quoted as saying: "It is logical to assume that this time a strike must seriously hurt the regime [of President Saddam Hussein] and at least weaken his hold on power." Arab officials do not expect US military action in the near future. "We are speaking about weeks, not days," one said.

In Baghdad, the newspaper Babil, owned by President Saddam Hussein's elder son Uday, said the Americans would have difficulty finding targets.

Meanwhile Richard Butler, head of the UN weapons inspection commission, said Iraq had enough biological weapons to "blow away Tel Aviv". There was evidence that Iraq had put them in mobile missiles, he said.