Powell: U.S. plan making progress

The effect of Saddam's loyalists is surprising, the U.S. secretary of defense said.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Faced with deep skepticism at the United Nations, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday that U.S. officials are making some progress in a last-ditch effort to save a proposed U.S. resolution on Iraq.
Powell said American officials "have some ideas" for accommodating concerns raised by U.N. Security Council members over the latest U.S. draft.
"We are trying to listen, take into account what we are hearing, and bring the community back together around the resolution," Powell said in an interview with a small group of reporters.
Powell said he would know by early next week if new language proposed by American officials is agreeable, after talks by telephone with foreign ministers this weekend.
"I'm not thinking of pulling it," Powell said, responding to reports that the United States might give up the effort. "But I might by Monday," he said, perhaps in jest.
He said he would try to move quickly next week if the proposed changes gain support.
He said earlier in the day that he thought U.S. officials were "making some progress. Watch this space."
What Rumsfeld said
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday he was surprised by the effectiveness of Saddam Hussein's loyalists to sustain the Iraq conflict long after the end of major combat operations. He called the continuing fighting serious but described it as low intensity.
Fear instilled in the Iraqi people by the ousted leader's former paramilitary force is contributing to the situation, he told an audience of more than 500 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
"I suppose on reflection the thing that probably surprised me the most is the ability that the so-called Fedayeen Saddam people had to terrorize and frighten the rest of the Iraqi people and cause them to not come over to the other side," Rumsfeld said in answer to a question from the audience.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush in Iraq on Friday, bringing to 94 the number of American soldiers killed by hostile fire in Iraq since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
The United States hopes to encourage other nations to contribute troops and aid to Iraq with the resolution but has run into concerns from some Security Council members and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Powell made clear the proposed U.S. changes still would preserve the basic U.S. position.
The council, which was bitterly divided over the U.S.-led war, is split over the timetable for transferring power to Iraqis and the U.N. role in stabilizing and rebuilding the war-battered country.
Annan has all but ruled out any U.N. political role in Iraq while the United States and Britain are still the occupying powers. The secretary-general, along with France, Germany and Russia, want a quick transfer of power to a provisional Iraqi government.
But the United States and Britain say the country must first have a constitution in place and hold elections before they relinquish sovereignty.
Other comments
China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said Friday it's time to see whether the differences on the resolution can be bridged, though he admitted it won't be easy.
"If they want to command major support from all council members, my feeling is that they need to change the whole concept, because otherwise for many council members this resolution will not be supported," he said. "My feeling at this stage, if they put it for a vote right now ... I don't think it's beyond nine votes."
For the resolution to be adopted, it needs a minimum of nine "yes" votes in the 15-member council and no veto by a permanent member. France, which has veto power, has ruled out using it.
But diplomats say adopting a resolution with minimal support won't send a clear message to Iraqis and the international community about the next steps in postwar Iraq.
"We will know in the next few days what is going to happen," Annan told reporters on Friday. "There are discussions going on, and I myself am intensely involved in this."
"I think the important thing is that member states are discussing these issues very, very seriously. It is a very complex and crucial issue. What is important is that we come up with a good resolution, not a quick resolution," he said.
Washington had hoped the resolution would win approval before a donors conference that starts Oct. 23.
Annan said organizers of the Madrid donor's conference are going ahead with preparations, "and as of today, there are no decisions by the organizers to put it off."
"But obviously many people see the two as linked, the council resolution and the conference in Madrid, and ideally one would want to see the resolution before the conference, so let's see what happens," Annan said.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.