fter more than seven weeks of diplomatic wrangling and finessing, the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed today on a resolution requiring that Iraq show that it has abandoned its weapons of mass destruction, or face "serious consequences."
The 15 to 0 vote came as something of a surprise, because Syria had been widely expected to abstain and earlier today the Russians were still expressing some doubts about the measure.
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The resolution, sponsored jointly by the United States and Britain, gives United Nations arms inspectors "immediate, unimpeded and unconditional" rights to search anywhere, including President Saddam Hussein's palaces, for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
It goes on to threaten Iraq with "serious consequences" if it fails to cooperate, a clear allusion to the use of force by the United States.
An advance team of arms inspectors is expected to arrive in Baghdad on Nov. 18.
Passage of the resolution brought almost immediate congratulations to the United Nations — and unambiguous warnings to Mr. Hussein — from President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain.
Iraq has seven days to indicate whether it will accept the terms of the resolution and 30 days to reveal all its chemical, biological and nuclear programs.
The new measure still leaves the United States free to attack Iraq without a formal second United Nations resolution authorizing the use of force. But it requires the Security Council to assess any serious violation that could lead to war.
President Bush welcomed passage of the resolution and called it an opportunity for Mr. Hussein to disarm peacefully, a move that could mean the end of sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
"The resolution approved today presents the Iraqi regime with a test — a final test. Iraq must now, without delay or negotiations, fully disarm, welcome full inspections and fundamentally change the approach it has taken for more than a decade," Mr. Bush said in the White House Rose Garden.
"He must submit to any and all methods to verify his compliance. His cooperation must be prompt and unconditional or he will face the severest consequences.
"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.
"That is the judgment of the United States Congress. That is the judgment of the United Nations Security Council. Now that world must insist that that judgment be enforced."
With Secretary of State Colin L. Powell standing beside him, the president sent a message to the people under Mr. Hussein's rule. "All patriotic Iraqis should embrace this opportunity to avoid war," Mr. Bush said, urging them to cooperate with weapons inspectors.
Disarmament in Iraq is a certainty, Mr. Bush said, adding, "The only question for the Iraqi regime is to determine how."
Mr. Blair addressed a personal message to Mr. Hussein.
"Cooperate fully, and despite the terrible injustices you have often perpetrated on others. we will be just with you.
"But defy the United Nations' will, and we will disarm you by force. Be under no doubt, whatever, of that," he said in London at No. 10 Downing Street.
"Conflict is not inevitable, but disarmament is," he said.
Syria's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Fayssal Mekdad, said Damascus voted for the resolution after receiving assurances from key nations "that this resolution would not be used as a pretext to strike Iraq" and "reaffirms the central role of the Security Council," The Associated Press reported.
Senior administration officials in Washington said the negotiations that led to unanimity amounted to "an excruciatingly difficult task," as one of them put it, and that the United States ambassador to the United Nations, John D. Negroponte, did not receive word of Syria's agreement until he was walking into the Council chamber. Mr. Negroponte quickly relayed the news to the White House.