DATE=01/17/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=RICE/IRAQ (S/L)

NUMBER=2-271501

BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

/// Re-running w/change in third line of 4th grpha from text ///

INTRO: The woman who takes over Saturday as America's new national security advisor says the incoming Bush administration will face a challenge trying to restore the collapsing sanctions imposed by the United Nations against Iraq. Correspondent Nick Simeone reports on what could become one of President-elect George W. Bush's foreign policy priorities, ten years after his father led the coalition that waged war against Baghdad.

TEXT: A major diplomatic effort is how Condoleezza Rice describes the task of convincing not only members of the U-N Security Council but also Iraq's neighbors that a decade after the Gulf War, sanctions that many view as only hurting the Iraqi people must remain in place and be toughened.

/// RICE ACT ///

We have a big job in trying to re-energize the sanctions. You're just going to have to convince the important powers here and I mean not just the permanent five but the important powers in the region that we need to rededicate ourselves to making sure that Saddam Hussein does not turn himself into a terrorist.

/// END ACT ///

No one, she says, wants to see the Iraqi leader escape the box he's been in. But outgoing Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has voiced skepticism that the Bush Administration will be able to make the case to other countries wanting to move toward normal relations with Baghdad that ten years on, sanctions against Iraq need to be sharpened.

/// REST OPT FOR LONG ///

But in an address outlining some of the incoming administration's views on foreign policy, the first woman ever tapped to become the nation's top national security expert hinted that the new administration may be considering other options beyond sanctions to deal with a leader whom she describes as still a tremendous threat.

/// SECOND RICE OPT ACT ///

At some point in time, it will be clear what else may be in store.

/// END ACT ///

But there's no sign that President Saddam may be ready to comply with U-N resolutions demanding he give up his suspected weapons of mass destruction. Ten years after the Iraq was defeated in the Gulf War, Baghdad still appears defiant with President Saddam's son even renewing claims to neighboring Kuwait. (SIGNED)

NEB/NJS/PT