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http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/ ... index.html

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (CNN) -- The U.N. observer force in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait has ordered the evacuation of most of its civilian staff to Kuwait City in the latest indication of rising tensions along the 200-mile strip.

The personnel being withdrawn are part of an observer force that has maintained a 10-mile-wide demilitarized zone along the border since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

The U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission [UNIKOM] has also ratcheted up its alert status to "red." The nearly 200 observers and their 775 Bangladeshi military support units will remain. The upgrade to red alert, however, means the groups will be confined to their bases and stop conducting routine patrols of the DMZ.

UNIKOM sources confirm that some of the 230 civilian U.N. staff have already left their residential quarters in the demilitarized zone, with more scheduled to leave Sunday. However, some civilians will remain.

"We are doing this as a protective measure for their safety," Daljeet Bagga, spokesman for UNIKOM, told CNN.

The move comes the day after the United Nations said Kuwaiti workers have cut holes in the border fence between Iraq and Kuwait big enough to drive military vehicles through.

The workers apparently cut areas marked by U.S. Marines who have been working inside the demilitarized zone for days, according to the United Nations, in likely breach of the regulations covering the border area

Kuwaiti workers said they were told to make 35 holes in the fence by March 15, the United Nations said.

The United Nations sent a letter on the matter to the Security Council on Friday. It would be up to the Security Council to determine whether the activity violated the resolution that established the zone.

On Thursday, the Security Council was told that the U.S. military had encroached into the zone.

By U.N. mandate, no military activity other than a police presence by Iraq and Kuwait may take place in the DMZ. Technically, if U.S. troops go through breaches in the demilitarized zone fence to enter Iraq from the south, they would be in violation of Security Council rules, and that would be reported to the United Nations.

U.S. officials said Friday that scenario was not a concern because any war with Iraq would be justified because of Iraq's treatment of Kuwait in the past and possible mistreatment in the future.

Administration still working the phones
Meanwhile, in Washington, President Bush attempted to marshal support Saturday for a U.N. draft resolution that would give Iraq until March 17 to disarm, and once again threatened to act even if he fails to gain the world body's blessing.

"We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm peacefully, he will be disarmed by force."

Opponents of the resolutions -- notably French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin -- were courting support for their contention that Friday's report from the weapons inspectors showed progress and that the inspectors should be given more time.

De Villepin planned to leave Paris on Sunday to visit the three undecided African members of the council: Angola, Cameroon and Guinea.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CNN that if the deadline is accepted, he and chief weapons inspector Hans Blix will "accelerate our efforts ... because unless both of us are able to register dramatic progress before that deadline, we are not sure of the outcome."

If inspectors could quell fears that Iraq might still have stores of such weapons as anthrax and the nerve agent VX, war might be averted, he said. "If both of us are reporting substantive progress, I see no reason why we should scuttle progress" by launching a war, ElBaradei said.

Such an effort could be completed within months, he added.

But Bush dismissed pleas for more time.

"Inspection teams do not need more time, or more personnel -- all they need is what they have never received: the full cooperation of the Iraqi regime," he said. "The only acceptable outcome is the outcome already demanded by a unanimous vote of the Security Council: total disarmament." (Full story)

A White House official said Saturday that the administration was planning to work the phones in coming days to enlist backing, though Bush was not expected to make calls until Monday.

Chile: Deadline too short
But not all calls are bearing fruit. Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said that, when Bush called him Friday night, he told the American president that the deadline is too soon.

Lagos told reporters Saturday that he believed Iraq should have three to four months to comply fully with Resolution 1441.

Chile is one of six undecided Security Council members. In addition to the three African countries, Mexico and Pakistan are wavering.

Britain proposed Friday to add the Saint Patrick's Day deadline to the resolution after Blix and ElBaradei presented their latest reports to the council.

Blix's report indicated that Iraq has made progress but still has far to go, while ElBaradei said his inspectors had found "no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons program."

The ambassadors began returning to their respective capitals Friday night, but are expected to return to New York for another Security Council consultation Monday. (Diplomatic debates across Europe)

A vote on the U.S.-backed resolution could come as early as Tuesday.

Mohammed Aldouri, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, dismissed the deadline as "nonsense."

"What can you do in 10 days?" he asked. "We're preparing for all outcomes."

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was shown Saturday on Iraqi television meeting with members of his ruling Baath Party. In a message read by anchors on the state-run network, he said Iraq has met all its disarmament demands and called on the United Nations to denounce the United States and Britain as "liars" for trying to "mislead and cover up" Baghdad's compliance.

He also called for an end to U.N. sanctions against Iraq that have been in place since the end of the Gulf War. (Full story)



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