Day the world turned on Iraq

UN Security Council votes 15-0 to give Saddam an ultimatum

Backing the determination of Washington and London to overturn more than a decade of defiance by Saddam Hussein, the UN Security Council voted unanimously yesterday for a stiffly worded resolution that gives Iraq a "final opportunity" to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction or face certain war.

The watershed 15-0 vote, which followed eight weeks of tortured negotiation, opens the next and potentially explosive chapter in the confrontation between Iraq and the western powers. It gives UN inspectors sweeping authority to hunt down Iraq's outlawed weapons programmes and demands that Iraq co-operates to the full.

To avert war, Iraq, as a first step, must declare its intention to comply with the resolution within seven days. After a period of 30 days it must fully disclose the extent of its weapons programmes. Any mis-steps by President Saddam now will invite US-led aggression.

President George Bush and Tony Blair, who were the co-sponsors of the resolution, quickly voiced their satisfaction. In a blunt warning to the Iraqi leader, Mr Blair declared: "Defy the UN's will and we will disarm you by force. Be in no doubt whatever over that."

Appearing in the Rose Garden just moments after the vote was taken in New York, Mr Bush said: "The outcome of the current crisis is already determined. The full disarmament of weapons of mass destruction will occur. The only question for the Iraqi regime is to decide how. His co-operation must be prompt and unconditional or he will face severest consequences."

The President urged the Council to retain its nerve in the event that Iraq falls short. "Now comes the hard part: the Security Council must maintain its unity and sense of purpose so that the Iraqi regime cannot revert to the strategies of obstruction and deception it used so successfully in the past," he said.

The breakthrough came late on Thursday when the US agreed to revisions to its text that reassured France, Russia and China that it contained no "hidden triggers" for war in the event of Iraqi malfeasance. Washington agreed, most importantly, that the Council will get its chance to debate its response under that scenario, before any decision on military action is taken by any member state. It also conceded that the job of alerting the Council to any problems will be left to Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector.

This was acknowledged last night by the Russian ambassador to the UN, Sergei Lavrov. "What is most important is that the resolution deflects the direct threat of war," he told reporters, and opens the road to "a political diplomatic settlement". Russia has long been Iraq's main ally on the Council.

The French ambassador noted that the unanimous vote – made possible after Syria came on board at the very last moment – was a triumph also for the UN itself, which for years had been badly fractured over the Iraq issue. "This success must now become a success for peace," Jean-David Levitte said. But echoing Washington, he added that Iraq "must understand that this opportunity is the final one".

In Paris, President Jacques Chirac called on President Saddam to fall into line. "The message of the international community is clear: It has united to tell Iraq that it is now time to co-operate fully with the United Nations," he said.

Even as they prepared to vote, others on the Council were uncertain which way Syria would fall. Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian deputy ambassador, said Damascus voted "yes" after receiving assurances that "this resolution would not be used as a pretext to strike Iraq" and "reaffirms the central role of the Security Council". It was a harsh blow for President Saddam, who has sought Arab unity in facing down Washington.

Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohammed al-Douri, said: "Iraq will certainly study the resolution and decide whether we can accept it or not."

The resolution affirms that inspectors will have "unconditional and unrestricted access" to all sites in Iraq, including eight presidential compounds where surprise inspections have been barred. They will be able to impose no-drive zones around sites under inspection and they will have the authority to interview Iraqi officials and scientists outside Iraqi territory if necessary.