The standoff between Iraq and the United Nations took a turn for the worse this week after what the chief U.N. weapons inspector labelled “disturbing and disappointing” meetings with Iraqi leaders.

Richard Butler, chairman of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) charged with monitoring Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, told the U.N. Security Council Friday that Iraq is unwilling to provide access to several key sites and wants a swift end to inspections.

Butler met Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz in Baghdad this week and told the Council his talks “strongly suggest that Iraq is determined to withhold any further or new information from the Commission and seek to prevent us from finding it ourselves if that would involve inspections of a certain character.”

In particular, Aziz told Butler that eight ‘presidential palaces’ deemed by Baghdad to be politically sensitive will remain off-limits to inspectors. The deputy prime minister also urged that overflights by the U.S.-piloted U2 spy planes be replaced by missions from other countries, because of the ongoing military tensions between Washington and Baghdad.

In an important shift, Aziz asked Butler to postpone plans to monitor the sites until after a series of technical evaluation meetings, which begin next month, are held to determine Iraq’s progress on scrapping its arsenal of banned weapons. The meetings are expected to end with a report back to the Security Council by April.

Butler responded that such suggestions “flew directly in the face of the Security Council’s requirements,” and refused to halt inspections of presidential sites unless instructed to do so by the Council.

So the battle lines remained much the same as they were two months ago, when tensions between Iraq and UNSCOM provoked threats of a U.S. military response. Iraq, suffering from seven- and-a-half years of U.N. sanctions, wants UNSCOM to verify its cooperation in scrapping its weaponry, so that the Council in turn can finally lift sanctions.

The monitors, however, accused Baghdad of increasingly obstructing their work.

Council diplomats quickly united Friday to insist that Iraq must comply with inspections. Beyond that agreement, however, the Council’s most powerful members are divided over how to respond.

“The United States feels very strongly that there should be strong, unfettered access to all sites,” U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said. He added that, although Washington would prefer to resolve the standoff diplomatically, “we are not ruling out any option.”

Other nations, however, were adamant that military force not be used against Iraq. Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov emphasised “the need to rely entirely on diplomatic solutions and to be patient.” He contended that Iraq has increased its cooperation with UNSCOM, notably by allowing inspections of all ‘sensitive’ sites except for the presidential complexes.

Ambassador Qin Huasun of China urged that no action be taken to prejudge the dispute until the technical evaluation meetings – which comprise experts from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iraq, Russia and the United States – take place. “As a sovereign state, Iraq’s dignity and legitimate security concerns should be taken into due consideration,” Qin added.

For months, Britain and the United States have pushed for strong action – including possible military strikes – to force Iraq to drop its defiance of what it deems are intrusive inspections. But the Council’s three other veto-holding permanent members – China, France and Russia – have urged restraint.

Iraq has benefitted from that rift in several ways. The technical evaluation meetings, which will begin on Feb 1 with discussions of Iraq’s production of warheads and VX nerve gas, were devised last month as a means to encourage Baghdad that its past progress would be determined fairly.

In recent weeks, Russia and France have also discussed efforts to provide experts and even planes to support UNSCOM’s work, following Iraqi complaints that the inspection teams were dominated by the United States and that U2 spy plane flights over Iraq were provocative.

Nevertheless, Iraq may enjoy less support in the Council now after its recent tiffs with UNSCOM. Over the past two weeks, one UNSCOM team led by a former U.S. Marine was repeatedly blocked and President Saddam Hussein called for the end of inspections and lifting of sanctions this year. Iraqi Vice President Tasa Yassin Ramadan called for one million Iraqis to volunteer in a struggle against the ongoing sanctions.

Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS that France, after months of pleading for compromises with Iraq, is ready to deem Baghdad “in material breach” of Security Council resolutions. That could be a crucial victory for Washington, which wants the Council to agree on such language to justify any unilateral attack on Iraq.

Aziz’s plea for a halt to inspections of presidential sites also has found no support at the United Nations. “Everyone has agreed that the idea of a moratorium is not acceptable,” British Ambassador John Weston said.

U.N. diplomats agree that Iraqi recalcitrance has made the lifting of sanctions more difficult. Yet at the same time, the Council has restricted itself to demanding Iraqi cooperation, without being able to agree on any steps to bring about that compliance.

Even the United States is in a bind over how to respond. President Bill Clinton this week warned that Iraq could not delay UNSCOM’s work any further, and hinted of military action if the stalemate persists. But Clinton, embroiled in a sex scandal which has shaken his administration, may not be in a position to lead a significant military effort against Iraq, and diplomats here doubt limited air strikes will change Baghdad’s policy.