WASHINGTON — United Nations weapons inspectors on Sunday said Iraqi officials appear to be taking disarmament talks more seriously and have handed over new documents on anthrax, nerve gas and missile development.
But President Bush kept up the pressure on the United Nations. In a speech before a Republican policy conference in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., Bush said the international body faces a “a moment of truth.”
“The United Nations gets to decide shortly whether or not it is going to be relevant in terms of keeping the peace — whether or not its words mean anything,” Bush said.
France and Germany have proposed to beef up inspectors and add U.N. forces. The German magazine Der Spiegel reported details of a plan by the two countries, saying U.N. peacekeepers would be deployed, U.N. weapons inspections would be tripled and all Iraqi flights would be banned.
German Defense Minister Peter Struck confirmed a plan was being discussed but would not give details. He said German forces “could well take part” in any peacekeeping in Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, pushing the administration’s case on the Sunday morning television news shows, rejected the French-German proposal. Powell called it “a diversion, not a solution.”
Also Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin after a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin said he supported a peaceful disarmament and saw no reason for using military force against Iraq.

— Shannon McCaffrey,

Daniel Rubin and Diego Ibarguen, Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)