Emerging from a nearly four-hour closed-door council debate, Negroponte told reporters that council members have reached understanding that the draft could be put to a vote as early as Thursday morning.

But Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said there are still some questions the sponsoring states should clarify, including Iraq's disarmament and the UN overseeing of the country's reconstruction process.

Diplomats present at the debate disclosed that the US side had requested for a vote Wednesday afternoon but later agreed to postpone the vote to give other council members time to seek instructions from their capitals.

They said that the US side had agreed to come up with a fourth revised version as early as Tuesday night to take into account new concerns expressed at the debate.

The fourth and final draft is expected to stipulate that the Security Council will review the implementation of the resolution 12 months after its adoption, they said.

The proposal, co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and Spain, calls for lifting all UN sanctions except for an arms embargo, and phasing out the UN-run oil-for-food program over a six-month period.

UN Starts Consultations on New Draft Resolution on Iraq

The United Nations Security Council met Tuesday to discuss a new draft resolution presented by the United States to scrap the long-standing sanctions on Iraq and use its oil revenues for reconstruction.

US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte said late Monday that the new draft is "fair, complete and eminently-workable" and could be put to a vote as early as Wednesday.

In Washington, a spokesman of the US State Department told reporters Tuesday that he believed the resolution would receive "broad" support among council members.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declined to comment on the new draft Tuesday in a press encounter when he arrived at the UN headquarters.

He said he would move very quickly to appoint a special representative on Iraq once the resolution is passed.

Compared with the two previous drafts, the new text circulated Monday contains some concessions on a number of issues, including the oil-for-food program, the UN role and the US-British occupation of Iraq.

The new text provides that the US-British occupation of Iraq would last until Iraqis establish an "internationally recognized, representative government." Previously, the United States wants the UN endorsement of its occupation of Iraq for an initial period of one year, which could be renewed automatically.

The text also uses the word "independent" to describe the authority of the UN special representative and stipulates a six-month period for phasing out the UN-run oil-for-food program, two months longer than in earlier drafts.

The resolution proposes lifting all sanctions the UN imposed on Iraq 13 years ago except for an arms embargo, and hands the US the power to administer Iraq's oil revenues.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2003)