Bush administration will offer revised resolution this week

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration has concluded a new round of consultations and plans to submit a revised, tough resolution on Iraq to the U.N. Security Council later in the week. <br><br>State

Sunday, November 3rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration has concluded a new round of consultations and plans to submit a revised, tough resolution on Iraq to the U.N. Security Council later in the week.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday the administration was hoping for approval by the Council a day or two afterward.

The revisions go ``a long way'' toward taking into account the views of other countries, he said. But Boucher also said the U.S. ``bottom line'' would not be changed.

This includes a warning to Baghdad that rejection of U.N. disarmament resolutions could result in ``serious consequences'' _ a tactful way of saying war.

National Guard and reserve call-ups in preparation for a possible war in Iraq could begin soon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday. Rumsfeld said he met recently with top personnel and military officials to plan for the military's manpower needs.

``I would expect that there would be guard and reserve call-ups in the immediate period ahead,'' Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon news conference. ``It could be any time, and it may very well be pieces, units, scraps.''

Meantime, President Bush kept up the drumbeat on the U.N. despite devoting nearly all his time and attention to the elections.

``You have a choice to show the world whether you have the capacity to work together to disarm Saddam Hussein to keep the peace or whether you will be like one of your forerunners, an empty debating society,'' Bush said of the U.N.during a campaign stop Monday in St. Charles, Mo.

``For the sake of world peace, if the United Nations will not act, and if Saddam Hussein will not disarm, the United States will lead a coalition of nations to disarm him,'' the president said.

Boucher did not say how the revisions were received at the Security Council. He said Secretary of State Colin Powell had engaged in intensive telephone diplomacy over the weekend, conferring with foreign ministers Dominique de Villepin of France and Jorge Castaneda of Mexico.

France and Russia could kill a tough resolution with their veto. Mexico, which is serving a Council term, is aligned with the two other countries and China in objecting to threatening Iraq with force.

Boucher said Powell was also in touch with other top Bush administration officials on developing a revised resolution.

He was expected to meet late Monday at the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Condozeezza Rice, who is President Bush's assistant for national security.

``We think the stronger the resolution the more the hope for Iraqi compliance,'' Boucher said.

One revision U.S. officials disclosed last week was to give Iraq additional time to list its chemical programs that may not be linked to weapons development.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein indicated he would not reject outright a new U.N. resolution proposed by the United States but said Iraq would await details and examine the requirements it imposes on Baghdad before deciding on compliance, Iraqi TV reported.

Saddam's remarks in Baghdad appeared to mark a shift in position by the Iraqi leader who has maintained that he would only accept weapons inspectors on terms laid down in previous resolutions.

``Iraq will look into whether it will deal with a resolution after it is issued by the Security Council,'' state-run television quoted Saddam as saying during a meeting with Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider.

Boucher declined to assess Saddam's remarks.