Mexico shifts toward US position on Iraq

UNITED NATIONS -- Under intense pressure to vote with its northern neighbor, Mexico appears to be the first among a handful of undecided U.N. Security Council members to shift toward the U.S. position on Iraq, The Associated Press has learned.\nThe change in policy for Mexico -- one of the most outspoken supporters of continued weapons inspections instead of war -- was first presented in a key address by Mexican President Vicente Fox Tuesday and then outlined in a new and confidential foreign policy directive obtained by The Associated Press.\nBut there was hope that a plan offered by Canada could reconcile the bitter differences posed by the U.S.-British-Spanish resolution, which is seeking U.N. authorization for war, and a French-Russian-German proposal to continue weapons inspections at least into July.\nCanada, which held a rotating seat on the council two years ago, has circulated a two-page proposal suggesting Iraq be given until the end of March to complete a list of remaining disarmament tasks identified by the inspectors. The council would then be asked to vote on whether Iraq was complying with its U.N. obligations, diplomats told the AP.\nThe Canadian ideas were well received by some of the swing voters the United States is trying to court, but it was unclear how the five veto-holding powers would react.\nIn Moscow, a senior Bush Administration official said it was unlikely Russia would veto the U.S.-British-Spanish draft despite Moscow's repeated statements that it opposes war.\nThe official's prediction came as a top aide to President Vladimir Putin was being received at the highest levels in Washington -- including a meeting with National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice that included a drop-in visit by President Bush. Alexander Voloshin, Putin's chief of staff, was also expected to confer with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top administration officials.\nU.S. officials were close-mouthed about Voloshin's unannounced visit, which coincided with an equally secretive trip by former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov to Baghdad and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's consultations in Beijing.\nIn the meantime, chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq is providing new information about its weapons and has reported the discovery of two bombs, including one possibly filled with a biological agent -- moves that he said signaled real cooperation.\nBush, however, predicted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would try to "fool the world one more time" by revealing the existence of weapons he has previously denied having. He urged the United Nations to back U.S. action against Iraq.\nMexico's shift comes after a weekend phone call to Fox from Bush and numerous visits to the country by senior U.S. officials. It could help Washington push a deeply divided council to adopt a resolution authorizing war in Iraq.\nMexico's U.N. mission refused to comment on the new directive.\nThe United States currently has the support of Britain, Spain and Bulgaria but is struggling to find the other five votes it needs in the 15-member council.\nFrance, Russia, Germany and China all support continued weapons inspections, while Pakistan and Syria, the two Muslim countries on the council, are not expected to support the resolution. That leaves the United States fishing for the support of Angola, Guinea, Cameroon, Mexico and Chile.\nThere were signs Tuesday that Angola could be swayed to the U.S. position when Angolan Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins said he wanted more "dialogue with the United States to see how we can accommodate each other."\nBut to the Bush administration's frustration, Mexico has proven the most difficult vote to get.\nWhile the two-page directive, in the form of talking points, doesn't explicitly commit Mexico to voting for the U.S.-backed resolution, it comes close by saying that Mexico agrees the resolution's sole aim is to disarm Iraq.\n"We know that this issue is of critical importance to the United States and to the Bush administration," the directive said.\nThe talking points were written hours after Fox told U.S. and Mexican business leaders that Mexico supports the urgent "efforts to achieve the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."\nShortly after the speech, Mexico's foreign ministry issued the directive to its embassies outlining a new position based entirely on Mexico's primary "national interest," which is its relationship with the United States.\nThe talking points don't mention weapons inspections at all. Instead the policy paper declares that Mexico will now focus its position entirely on the immediate disarmament of Iraq.\n"Nothing is more urgent, no time can be lost in achieving this objective," it says.\nThe final point in the document emphasizes Mexico's valued relationship with the United States and the need to define policy based on Mexico's national interests.\nMexican businesses, which rely heavily on U.S. trade, had been pushing Fox not to alienate Mexico from Washington over Iraq.\nBut the most intense pressure came directly from Washington.\nIn the past three weeks, State Department officials including Kim Holmes, the assistant secretary of state for international organizations, visited Mexico City, said Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission.\n"We've expressed our opinion to Mexico on how important this issue is and we hope for their support," said Charles Barclay, a spokesman for the State Department. Barclay said the United States wasn't engaging in any arm twisting.\nBut Mexican diplomats have previously described their conversations with U.S. officials as hostile in tone and complained that Washington was demonstrating little concern for the constraints of the Mexican government whose people are overwhelmingly opposed to a war with Iraq.\n"They actually told us: 'any country that doesn't go along with us will be paying a heavy price,'" one Mexican diplomat said recently.