Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 03/14/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH / IRAQ (S)

NUMBER=2-300692

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

INTRO: President Bush will meet with the leaders of Britain and Spain on Sunday to discuss their efforts to pass a U-N resolution to disarm Iraq. The meeting is to take place in Portugal's Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic. V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports.

TEXT: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the meeting is "an effort to pursue every last bit of diplomacy" toward getting a U-N resolution that disarms Iraq peacefully.

Mr. Fleischer says the president's talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar will be looking to find "the best diplomatic way forward" for their resolution vowing to enforce earlier warnings of "serious consequences" if Iraq does not disarm.

President Bush is trying to find the nine Security Council votes the resolution needs to pass. France and Russia say they will veto the measure because it could bring the conflict closer to war.

With more than 250-thousand U-S and British forces already in the region, President Bush says he is ready to use force against Iraq regardless of what the Security Council decides.

(SIGNED)

NEB/SS/KBK/FC