Britain is planning to present the UN Security Council with a stern resolution warning of "the severest consequences" if Iraq violates the recent arms inspection deal.
But the council's 15 members, sharply divided by the resolution's wording, are not expected to vote on the measure until next week, perhaps on Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources.
The British initiative, backed by Washington, says that "any violation would have the severest consequences for Iraq."
"We continue our work. I hope we will be moving towards an agreed draft resolution we can all adopt in the very near future," Britain's UN ambassador, Sir John Weston, said before the closed-door council session began.
The ambassador implicitly admitted the council would probably not approve the initiative until next week, saying he was "considering whether to invite my colleagues to sit over the weekend for that purpose".
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, postponed indefinitely a three-day visit to Washington which had been set for early next week in order to closely follow the council's talks, his spokesman said.
London's measure had already been amended to reflect criticisms by partners of Britain and the US. Moscow and Paris favour warning Baghdad against violating the agreement reached on Monday ending the stand-off over UN inspectors' access to Iraqi sites suspected of harbouring banned weapons of mass destruction.
But Russia and France say the British resolution is "cover for future military strikes," a diplomat said.
"China believes that there is no need for a resolution," said a spokesman for Beijing, Mr Chen Ranfeng. But, "if everybody thinks that it is necessary to have a resolution, that resolution must support, endorse, not dilute the essence of the memorandum," Mr Chen added.
The official Iraqi daily, Ath-Thawra, yesterday called on the Security Council to oppose the "treacherous idea . . . aimed at containing this agreement, (and) engulfing its positive elements".
The British resolution would also result in "reducing the margin of manoeuvre of the UN Secretary General and casting doubt on his credibility," the paper said.
Baghdad on Thursday had condemned Washington's and London's efforts to include a clause that would permit possible future strikes against Iraq.
Meanwhile, President Chirac of France and President Clinton separately warned Iraq to respect the agreement.
Baghdad responded by promising to "strictly apply" the UN-brokered agreement governing inspection of eight so-called "presidential" sites.
The deal provides for a "special group" of diplomats and disarmament experts from the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) to inspect the eight sites that stretch over 31.5 sq km.