More opposition to U.S. war plans

    In the buildup to a key presentation to the United Nations by weapons inspectors on Monday, two members of the Security Council, Russia and China, added Thursday to the chorus of nations seeking to slow U.S. plans for a war in Iraq. The United States is worried that the opposition could block a consensus next week when the monitors report on 60 days of searches and the Security Council considers its next moves.

RUSSIA, CHINA WEIGH IN
       On Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that there were no grounds “at the moment” to use military force against Iraq and that the crisis could still be resolved through diplomatic means.
       In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said China’s position was “extremely close to that of France,” which wants to give inspectors more time to operate in Iraq and threatened this week to use its veto on the Security Council if there was a new resolution authorizing war.
       Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters that China was worried about the large-scale military buildup in the Persian Gulf.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said he favored giving U.N. weapons inspectors more time to search for weapons in Iraq.
       The leaders of Germany and France repeated Thursday their pledge to seeking a diplomatic solution.