Security Council divided over the next step

The report on Monday by Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, cast a pall of anxiety over considerations of the United Nations Security Council last night, but failed to disguise deep divisions over what to do next.

"The report has changed the character of the debate," Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the British ambassador, said yesterday. He said Council members continued to voice different opinions over whether the time had arrived to respond with force.

"Some members of the Council see the glass as half full and some members of the Council see the glass as half empty," he said.

Sir Jeremy said, however, that the UN had already made clear that Iraq's co-operative attitude "must be unequivocably a full glass, no messing around, no prevarication".

America's ambassador, John Negroponte, said the "diplomatic window" for Iraq to show co-operation was closing quickly. He referred to the Security Council session set for 5 February to hear a presentation by US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, of US intelligence detailing Iraqi non-cooperation with arms inspectors.

The task for the US and for Britain to persuade the Council to authorise force remains a tough one. The Russian ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, said last night that inspections needed more time, contradicting reports that President Vladimir Putin had signalled a shift in his more patient stance with Baghdad. "Our position has not changed," he said "If Iraq stops co-operating with inspectors and starts blocking inspections we must look into it."

The split in the Council was evident in statements from the ambassador of Spain, who said his government was "very sceptical as to the goodwill" of Iraq, and of Mexico, who said that the inspections have proved their "usefulness and must therefore continue".