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Bush seeks to build global coalition

WASHINGTON SEPT. 6. The United States President, George W. Bush, used telephone diplomacy on Friday to try to persuade three sceptical nations — China, Russia and France — that action against Iraq is urgently needed.

The stakes are huge: Each could use their clout in the United Nations to veto resolutions aimed at the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Bush, who has been accused of maintaining a go-it-alone foreign policy, is trying to build a global coalition for action against Iraq, just as his father did in 1991 for the Gulf War.

Opening the international phase in his campaign to win similar backing, Mr. Bush targeted three of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council for telephone calls. The United States and Britain are the other two permanent members.

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, a staunch backer of the U.S. call for regime change in Baghdad, will meet Mr. Bush at his Camp David presidential retreat on Saturday. Mr. Bush will meet on Monday the Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, who has said he has yet to see evidence to justify Canadian support for a military campaign.

Mr. Bush called the Presidents, Jacques Chirac of France, Jiang Zemin of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia. All three have voiced deep doubts about military action against Iraq.

France and China have said any military action against Iraq should be decided by the United Nations. Russia opposes war with Iraq, but its stand is clouded by growing economic and diplomatic ties to the country.

Mr. Bush's conversations could lay the groundwork for his administration's likely request that the Security Council adopt a resolution setting a deadline for Iraq to admit weapons inspectors or risk punitive action.

By not specifying there would be an attack on Baghdad, the administration hopes to avert a veto.

Officials confirmed Mr. Bush was reviewing several ideas, including giving Mr. Hussein a last-ditch deadline for allowing unfettered access to weapons inspectors, but said the President and his advisers had determined that it was too soon to show his hand.

Indeed, he does not plan to break major new ground in a Sept. 12 address to the United Nations; aides who have seen early drafts say Mr. Bush makes a forceful case for ousting Mr. Hussein and warns the United Nations that its credibility and relevance is on the line.

While there is no ``huge divergence'' on what to say, the topic is still the subject of lively discussions within the administration, one official said.

Aides say concrete plans to oust Mr. Hussein will likely wait for another speech, perhaps a joint session of Congress, once Mr. Bush is finished consulting allies and lawmakers and makes a final decision.

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