Posted on 03/16/2003 9:25:08 AM PST by Happy2BMe
By ED McCULLOUGH, Associated Press Writer
LAJES, Azores Islands - With no real hope of solving a diplomatic crisis on disarming Iraq (news - web sites) and time running out, U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and the prime ministers of Britain, Spain and Portugal flew to this mid-Atlantic island Sunday to decide a final strategy.
Even before the summit in the Azores archipelago located 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) off southern Europe's coast, officials on both sides of the Atlantic were pessimistic that any new resolution backing a U.S.-led war would garner approval at the U.N. Security Council.
"Is it time to bring the curtain down on this or is there some hope?" U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Sunday, previewing the discussions.
"They're not going (to the Azores) for war council. They're going there to examine the diplomatic situation to see if there is any hope for a peaceful solution," Powell said on ABC television's "This Week."
British officials said Sunday the leaders would take a last look to see if anything can be done to end the diplomatic impasse, though chances of finding a solution appeared bleak.
"No one is pretending that things are anything other than very difficult and I think they want to see how, and whether, we can resolve what's clearly a diplomatic crisis," one British official said, declining to be named.
Host Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso greeted British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) on the runway of the Portuguese air base on Terceira island about 2:45 p.m. (1545 GMT). Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Bush arrived shortly thereafter.
The leaders were to meet for about 90 minutes before holding a news conference and flying home.
Meanwhile Sunday, French President Jacques Chirac said he was willing to accept a 30-day deadline for Iraq to disarm, provided the move was endorsed by the chief U.N. weapons inspectors.
Speaking hours before the Azores summit got under way, Chirac said the inspectors will be telling the Security Council next week that they believe it is possible to disarm Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) peacefully.
"One month, two months, I am ready to accept any accord on this point that has the approval of the inspectors," Chirac said in an interview aired on CNN, excerpts of which were released by the president's office in Paris. The full interview is to be aired on CBS television at 0000 GMT, Chirac's office said.
Bush, Blair and Aznar weren't likely to bend in the face of massive anti-war rallies around the world this weekend. Nor would war be declared during the short time they spend in Portugal, which figures to be a non-participant in any attack.
In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. aired Sunday morning, Aznar said he didn't think a new U.N. resolution authorizing war on Iraq was needed from a legal standpoint. British ministers echoed the view.
The Roman Catholic bishop of Angra do Heroismo, Antonio Sousa Braga, urged parishioners at Lajes church Sunday to pray for peace.
The church stands just outside the sprawling air force base No. 4 which the U.S. Air Force has used for years as a mid-Atlantic fueling stopover.
In recent weeks, several dozen U.S. war planes have refueled at Lajes every day; several times the usual number.
"This summit is perhaps the last chance" for a diplomatic solution to disarming Iraq, the bishop told the SIC Noticias television network.
Several hundred anti-war demonstrators on Sunday blocked the road leading to the main entrance of the base, about 100 meters (yards) from the gate.
Portugal's Lusa news agency reported another demonstration was under way outside the U.S. consulate on Sao Miguel, largest of the nine Azores islands.
"The people of the world don't want a war that we know is an illegal war," said Francisco Louca, one of the organizers of the demonstrations and leader of the Left Bloc in the Portuguese parliament.
Lusa also reported Terceira island was being guarded by two Portuguese frigates, Portuguese military helicopters and U.S. F-16s.
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