|
Declaring the standoff with Iraq over disarmament cannot go on indefinitely, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said President George W. Bush will issue an ultimatum Monday night to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to quickly leave Iraq or face a US-led war.
"This matter cannot continue indefinitely," Powell told reporters at a televised press conference. "The president clearly will issue an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein tonight."
Bush will also demand "Saddam and his immediate cohort to leave the country and to allow this matter to be resolved through the peaceful entry of force, and not a conflict," Powell said.
He said the Bush administration had decided to withdraw a new draft resolution proposed by the United States, Britain and Spain to give Iraq a deadline to disarm or face consequences.
"The resolution will die anyway, because it had a built-in date of March 17 within the resolution, which has not been modified," Powell said.
"As you heard the president and the other leaders who assembled in the Azores yesterday for the Atlantic summit say, the window on diplomacy is closing," he said." The moment of truth is arriving."
Meanwhile, a White House official said Bush will give Saddam "a72-hour ultimatum" and demand that Saddam yield power and leave Iraq during his televised address set for 8 p.m. (01:00 GMT Tuesday).
And Bush also was scheduled to meet with US congressional leaders Monday afternoon, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The announcement of Bush's televised speech came just moments after United Nations representatives from the United States, Britain and Spain said they would not seek a second Security Council vote on a resolution aimed at disarming Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was expected to inform the council later Monday that he is withdrawing UN weapons inspectors from Iraq. The United States had advised the United Nations to remove its weapons inspectors from Iraq, and offered to help ensure their safe passage.
Along the Kuwait-Iraq border, the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission on Monday pulled its remaining staff from both sides of the demilitarized zone separating the two nations.
The US State Department urged all US citizens to leave Kuwait due to the threat of war. The warning followed Sunday's notice for all US embassy non-emergency staff and family members to depart.
(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2003)
|
