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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council will hold consultations on Monday on a call by France, Russia and Germany for emergency U.N. talks this week on the Iraq crisis. France, Russia and Germany issued a joint statement on Saturday in which they rejected the war option and proposed emergency talks among foreign ministers from the 15 U.N. Security Council countries in the wake of a report on arms inspection work set for Tuesday. The U.N. consultations, which are regarded as routine under U.N. procedures, will be held at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), a spokesman said on Sunday.....

<p>In another instance, the United States and Soviet Union teamed up to thwart two Western powers--France and Great Britain. In July 1956, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser seized the Suez Canal. Although the canal ran through Egyptian territory, it was owned primarily by the British and French. To get the canal back, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt. Most of the world opposed the retaking of the canal. The United States and Soviet Union, in a rare case of Cold War unity, voted for a Security Council resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of British, French, and Israeli troops. But Britain and France vetoed this resolution.</p>

UNITED NATIONS, March 13 -- A U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing war against Iraq appears doomed to fail, senior U.S. officials and foreign diplomats said today, though the Bush administration agreed to a British request to continue negotiations until Monday before calling for a vote or withdrawing the measure. U.S. officials in recent days have claimed, without providing evidence, that they were within striking distance of reaching the necessary nine votes on the deeply divided Security Council. But officials were noticeably gloomy today after a British compromise offered Wednesday was largely rejected by the six countries that are officially...

The United States is moving 10 Navy ships armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea, senior U.S. officials said Thursday. The move indicates weakening U.S. confidence that Turkey will grant overflight rights for U.S. planes and missiles. From the Red Sea the cruisers, destroyers and submarines would be able to launch their Tomahawks - typically fired in the opening hours of a war — for flights over Saudi Arabia to targets in Iraq. The ships are part of the USS Harry S. Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier battle groups, which have been operating...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush (news - web sites) is willing to abandon his demand for a United Nations (news - web sites) vote on Iraq (news - web sites) as the White House prepares an ultimatum that would presage the start of war. The planned presidential address from the White House could come within hours of a collapse of deliberations at the United Nations, a senior administration official said Thursday. It would signal an ''end of diplomacy'' and warn journalists, U.N. weapons inspectors and international aid workers that it was time to leave Iraq. Within days, Bush would follow with...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush (news - web sites) is willing to abandon his demand for a United Nations (news - web sites) vote on Iraq (news - web sites) as the White House prepares an ultimatum that would presage the start of The planned presidential address from the White House could come within hours of a collapse of deliberations at the United Nations, a senior administration official said Thursday. It would signal an ''end of diplomacy'' and warn journalists, U.N. weapons inspectors and international aid workers that it was time to leave Iraq. Within days, Bush would follow with a...

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has acknowledged that Britain may have to abandon hopes of securing a new UN resolution before going to war with Iraq. At a news conference at the Foreign Office, he repeatedly refused to say whether the draft resolution tabled by Britain, the US and Spain would be put to a vote in the Security Council. Earlier, his Spanish counterpart Ana Palacio openly accepted that the resolution may be withdrawn, citing the threat by President Jacques Chirac to wield the French veto "whatever the circumstances". The acceptance that the resolution may have to be dropped will have...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration believes that it is one vote shy of having nine of 15 votes needed on a U.N. Security Council resolution giving Iraq an ultimatum to disarm, two senior U.S. State Department officials said Wednesday.</p>

Walk away, Mr. President. Walk away from the U.N. Security Council. It will not authorize the coming war. You can stand on your head and it won't change the outcome. You can convert to Islam in a Parisian mosque and it won't prevent a French veto. The French are bent not just on opposing your policy but on destroying it -- and the coalition you built around it. When they send their foreign minister to tour the three African countries on the Security Council in order to turn them against the United States, you know that this is a country...

<p>UNITED NATIONS. Diplomats from around the globe were to take turns speaking their minds Tuesday as the U.N. Security Council continues to ponder a resolution authorizing war with Iraq.</p> <p>Open council debate was planned after the United States and Britain were forced to delay a vote on their draft resolution when failed to get enough support, despite a flurry of personal appeals from President Bush on Monday.</p>

From midday Monday, March 10 - early morning in Washington, the odds shortened sharply for an early launch of the American war offensive against Iraq – according to DEBKAfile’s military sources. Some sources predicted it would go forward even before the crucial Security Council voting session on the American-backed second resolution on Iraq - or shortly thereafter. The consensus among our Washington sources is that, in making this decision, the Bush administration will be swayed by a number of untoward developments - if they cannot be arrested. -- The failure of the American diplomatic drive to obtain Security Council majority...

The debate over Iraq has deeply split the United Nations Security Council. Some analysts and diplomats question to what degree the United Nations' authority, in particular that of the Security Council, is being undermined by the current crisis. With the world's sole remaining superpower prepared to wage war with or without U.N. approval, the Security Council finds itself at what many analysts say is a crossroads. Old alliances are splintering over the issue and new ones emerging. Countries like France and Germany, stalwart U.S. allies during the Cold War, are staunchly opposing U.S. military action. On the other hand, Bulgaria,...

Paris:- Monday, 10. March 2003:- "Nobody can predict in advance the results of a war. They are seldom positive." So said Président Jacques Chirac on TV this evening, when being questioned by journalists from the two main national TV networks here. He confirmed his intention to go to New York on Tuesday or Wednesday, to attend a session of the Security Council - saying when it comes to a question of war, the highest political leaders are in the ultimate position of responsibility. Only they are capable of making the most crucial decisions.

Upcoming: -- UN Security Council vote, possibly Tuesday, on a resolution introduced by Britain and supported by the United States giving Iraq until March 17 to fully comply with UN Resolution 1441, or face war. Summary: The United States, with support from allies including Britain and Spain, contends Iraq has failed to disarm in compliance with United Nations Resolution 1441, and that unless Iraqi President Saddam Hussein complies and fully discloses what has happened to all of Iraq's prohibited weapons, the United States and other willing nations will attack Iraq to change the regime and ensure the nation has disarmed....

UNITED NATIONS - President Bush's urgent phone campaign to world leaders, seeking their support for a tough deadline on Iraq, came up short Monday — forcing a delay of the Security Council's vote and opening the doors to a possible compromise to give Saddam Hussein more time. The United States had hoped to present the resolution to the council on Tuesday, setting a March 17 deadline for Iraqi disarmament or war. But the vote was put on hold when it became evident that America and its allies had not yet won the nine votes they needed for a majority. But...

WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Both proponents and opponents of war against Iraq are ratcheting up their drive for votes on the U.N. Security Council as the U.S. prepares to introduce a final Iraq resolution. After meeting with Guinea's Foreign Minister Francois Fall in Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell tried to calm rising tension between France and the United States over the competition for votes expected this week in the U.N. Security Council. "I'm in no competition with (French Foreign Minister) Dominique de Villepin," Powell told reporters. "He does what he has to do, and I do what I...

With President Bush (news - web sites) anxious to resolve the U.N. standoff quickly and with 300,000 troops poised to invade Iraq, the United States was forced to accept a delay in its diplomatic timetable due to lack of support at the U.N. Security Council consultations on Monday were overshadowed by a bombshell from Paris, when French President Jacques Chirac made it clear he was prepared to go to the limit in his diplomatic confrontation with Bush to prevent the U.N. from authorizing an attack on Iraq. "France will vote 'no' because she considers tonight that there is no reason...