The United States and Britain are proposing that the United Nations set a seven-day deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to agree to disarm and open his palaces for searches of hidden weapons, a Bush administration official and U.N. diplomats said Friday. President Bush backed the U.N. effort, saying, “I’m willing to give peace a chance.”

The tough demands are coupled with a warning that “all necessary means” would be used against Iraq in the event of defiance, the officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Describing the proposed U.N. resolution as tough and detailed, the U.S. official said Iraq would be accused of being in “material breach” of U.N. Security Council resolutions and told it must agree to “full, final and complete destruction” of its weapons of mass destruction. The resolution was being circulated to attract the support of France, Russia and China.

Approval of the resolution is problematic. France, Russia and China each has the power to kill it with a veto, as they are all permanent members of the council. All three prefer giving Iraq another chance to have suspect sites inspected before threats of force are leveled.

Bush called French President Jacques Chirac to try to win his backing. But Chirac resisted, telling Bush he opposed demanding Iraqi compliance and threatening Iraq with military force if it did not.

Chirac, instead, urged Bush to back his own approach of two resolutions: The first would call for weapons inspections, withholding any threats until a second resolution if Iraq balked.

Convincing Congress

While Secretary of State Colin Powell and other U.S. diplomats strive to gain approval for the resolution, the Bush administration is struggling to persuade Congress to authorize the use of force against Iraq.

Bush said the United Nations should have a chance to force Saddam to give up his weapons of mass destruction before the United States acts on its own against Iraq.

“I’m willing to give peace a chance to work. I want the United Nations to work,” Bush said at a Republican fund-raising event in Denver.

But Bush said action must come quickly.

“Now is the time,” he said. “For the sake of your children’s future we must make sure this madman never has the capacity to hurt us with a nuclear weapon, or to use the stockpiles of anthrax that we know he has, or VX, the biological weapons which he possesses.”

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld began a series of addresses across the country to justify military force as an option to disarm Iraq and drive Saddam from power. The United States will have “a substantial coalition of countries” by its side if it decides to use military force to oust Saddam, Rumsfeld said in Atlanta.

Resolution negotiations

Congress hopes to take up a resolution next week giving the president the authority to use whatever means necessary, including military force, to eradicate the Iraqi threat to America. Negotiations continue on the exact wording of that resolution, with Democrats saying they won’t give the president open-ended authority and seeking to put more emphasis on a multilateral approach to the problem.

Democratic dissent reflects some uncertainty among Americans about a go-it-alone policy against Iraq. Almost two-thirds in recent polls say they support military action to oust the Iraqi president, but that support drops to one-third when people are asked if they are willing to do it without the backing of allies.

Former President Clinton said Friday he favored going to the United Nations to gather international clout against Saddam. Former Vice President Al Gore said Monday he was concerned that the focus on war against Iraq was undermining the broader war against terrorism.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Thursday that the first way to disarm Iraq was by building an alliance and working through the United Nations, “not through precipitous, unilateral military action.” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., also said the focus should be on the United Nations giving Saddam a clear ultimatum to disarm or face action by a multinational force.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said that while Bush emphasized his desire for a peaceful solution Friday, he was not shifting from the message he has delivered previously. Bush has said “a million times” that the military option doesn’t have to be the first to be exercised, Fleischer said.