Gulf Arabs urge Iraq to accept UN resolution

Dubai/Moscow/Baghdad (Agencies): Gulf Arab states urged neighboring Iraq to accept the U.S.-drafted United Nations resolution on disarmament to avert a possible war in the oil-rich region.

A Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) statement, received by Reuters on Wednesday, called on Iraq to "abide by (the resolution) so as not to give a chance to any excuses that might (lead) to an increase in the suffering of the brotherly Iraqi people."

The GCC is a political and economic alliance that groups Arab Emirates and Oman.

The Security Council voted unanimously last Friday to endorse a resolution which gives one last chance for Baghdad to disarm or face "serious consequences", and gave Iraq until this Friday to accept the terms.

Iraq's parliament on Tuesday rejected the resolution and asked President Saddam Hussein, who effectively controls the 250-seat chamber, to take the final decision.

U.S. President George W. Bush dismissed the move and said he wanted to hear what Saddam had to say.

The Iraqi president is expected to convene his Revolutionary Command Council, the nation's highest authority, at any time to decide a final response on the matter.

Bush has threatened to unleash U.S. forces if needed to force Iraq to dismantle its alleged weapons of mass destruction. U.S. officials say Bush has approved a war plan involving some 200,000 soldiers.

Indonesia's foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda, saying that the U.S. had lowered its bargain, called on the Baghdad government on Wednesday to be more cooperative and prudent in responding the UN resolution.

Russia's top spokesman on Iraq urged Baghdad on Wednesday to be pragmatic and accept the resolution, despite its misgivings and what Moscow called understandable popular concern.

"The language of the resolution is rather harsh, so the emotions it can stir in Iraqi society are understandable," Russian deputy foreign minister Yuri Fedotov told a news conference.

"But we still hope the Iraqi leadership will come up with a pragmatic approach and take into account that the resolution does not include a clause on the automatic use of force."

Saddam is widely expected to accept the resolution, which gives UN inspectors sweeping new rights and Iraq 30 days to submit a detailed list of its weapons, by a Friday deadline.

Moscow has economic ties with Baghdad dating from Soviet times and has faced a tough balancing act over the Security Council resolution, weighing potentially lucrative oil deals against improved diplomatic links with Washington.

"The demands are sufficiently fulfillable and realistic, and most of them were agreed with the Iraqi leadership during the last round of talks in Vienna," Fedotov said.

Iraqi experts met UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed El Baradei in Vienna in September. Iraq agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors to resume their work after a four-year interlude.

Meanwhile, a fresh signal that Iraq may be moving toward accepting the UN disarmament demands came on Wednesday from the official media, which mostly ignored MPs' rejection of Resolution 1441 while trumpeting the blank cheque they gave Saddam.

Following the line adopted by state television and radio in the hours that followed Tuesday's unanimous vote, Arabic dailies in Baghdad splashed news only that parliament had mandated Saddam "to do what he deems fit" on the Security Council resolution.