Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3/13/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH / IRAQ (S)

NUMBER=2-300637

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The White House says its push to pass a new U-N resolution against Iraq may continue into next week. V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports, President Bush had hoped to get a vote by Friday.

TEXT: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the diplomatic process under way may conclude tomorrow or it may continue into next week.

Mr. Bush is looking for nine votes in the U-N Security Council to pass a resolution vowing to enforce earlier demands of "serious consequences" against Iraq if it does not disarm.

France says it will veto that resolution because it could bring the conflict closer to war. French officials Wednesday rejected a British plan to set conditions for Iraqi compliance.

Mr. Fleischer says it is "interesting" that French officials rejected the British plan even before Iraqi officials. He says the threat of a French veto is "not the way to disarm" Iraq and is not the way to have a "peaceful outcome" of the crisis.

Mr. Fleischer says the president is "going the extra mile" for a U-N resolution, "but there's a limit how far he will go down that road." (SIGNED)

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