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UN Security Council unanimously approves Iraq resolution
( 2002-11-09 08:16 ) (7 )

The UN Security Council unanimously approved a tough US-initiated resolution on Friday giving Iraq one last chance to disarm or face the consequences and told President Saddam Hussein to accept its terms within a week.

Even Iraq's Arab neighbour Syria, which had opposed the resolution, joined the other UN Security Council members for the 15-0 vote, a victory for President George W. Bush, who had challenged the United Nations to disarm Iraq.

"The world has now come together to say that the outlaw regime in Iraq will not be permitted to build or possess chemical, biological or nuclear weapons," Bush said in Washington immediately after the vote.

In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country co-sponsored the resolution, said "Saddam must now make his choice. My message to him is this. Disarm or you face force. Be under no doubt whatsoever of that."

Chief UN inspector Hans Blix said he would be taking a crew to Iraq on November 18 and UN officials said the first team would set up logistics for the arms experts. Actual spot inspections are not expected to begin until after November 25.

The complex resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, leaves the United States free to attack Iraq without Security Council authorization. But this is to happen only after the inspectors, accounting for Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction, have reported or verified any serious violation by Iraq and the Security Council has evaluated the complaint.

The UN inspectors have up to 45 days to begin work and another 60 days to report to the council on what they have uncovered. But they are obliged to report any obstructions by Iraq immediately.

However, several Security Council members expressed anxiety that the Bush administration, which has begun massing forces around the Gulf, might move unilaterally without waiting for any report from inspectors. "War can be only a last resort," stressed French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte.

Blix, an international lawyer, has made clear he would not report minor infractions, a position that may conflict with US military plans.

INSPECTORS CAN SEARCH ANYWHERE

The resolution gives the UN arms inspectors, who have been out of Iraq for four years, "immediate, unimpeded and unconditional" rights to search anywhere for banned weapons, including President Saddam Hussein's presidential compounds.

It directs Iraq to accept the terms of the resolution in seven days, and within 30 days make an "accurate full and complete" declaration of its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic weapons and related materials used in civilian industries.

And the document threatens Iraq with "serious consequences" if it does not take advantage of "a final opportunity" to cooperate and disarm.

Iraq denies it has such weapons programs. Baghdad's Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohamed Aldouri, said he did not know his government's response to the seven-day deadline.

He told Reuters the resolution reflected "the will of the United States on the rest of the world" and said he was "pessimistic" the inspectors would ever be allowed to do their work.

Syria said it supported the resolution to preserve unity in the Security Council despite having doubts.

Syria's Deputy Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said that France and Russia in "high-level contacts" had persuaded Damascus to vote "yes" following assurances the resolution would not be used as a pretext to strike Iraq.

Bush welcomed the vote, which came after two months of arduous negotiations following his September 12 speech to the UN General Assembly. He challenged the world to force Iraq to disarm or the United States would do it alone.

On Friday, Bush said the Security Council "had given clear and fair notice that Saddam Hussein must fully disclose and destroy its weapons of mass destruction".

And his UN ambassador John Negroponte warned that "if the Security Council fails to act decisively in the event of a further Iraq violation, this resolution does not constrain any member state from acting to defend itself".

British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock was more conciliatory and stressed there was no automatic trigger for military action.

"If there is a further Iraq breach of its disarmament obligations, the matter will return to the council for discussion. We would expect the Security Council then to meet its responsibilities," he said.

GROUNDS FOR MILITARY ATTACK

The key paragraph four in the resolution states that "false statements or omissions" and other noncooperation by Iraq constitute a "further material breach" of Baghdad's obligations -- wording that would allow a military attack.

A dispute over who would evaluate a material breach almost derailed the resolution until a last-minute deal between the United States and France.

While Negroponte told reporters any nation could report an Iraqi violation to the council, Greenstock stressed that the arms inspectors would have to verify any material breach of Iraq's obligations before any military strike could begin.

Russia's UN ambassador Sergei Lavrov said, "It is particularly important that, as many of my colleagues have said today, in the event of any kind of dispute or disagreement on disarmament matters, the (inspectors) will report this to the Security Council, and it is the Security Council that will consider the situation that has developed."

Mexico's UN ambassador Adolfo Zinser told the council, "We reiterate our belief, that is reflected in the agreed text, that the possibility of the use of force is only valid as a last resort."

Most members followed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's lead and warned Iraq to comply.

"I urge the Iraqi leadership for the sake of its own people and for the sake of world security and world order to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of the Iraqi people," Annan told the council.