The council heard speeches by representatives from its 15 members as well as dozens of nonmember speakers, with the majority rejecting unilateral action and calling for political solutions.

Addressing the Thursday meeting on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Mokhtar Lamani hailed Iraq's decision to re-admit UN weapons inspectors, calling this a "first step" towards a settlement of the issue leading to a lifting of the sanctions.

Meanwhile, he stressed that there should be no double standards in term of noncompliance with UN resolutions. "The history of the United Nations testifies to the fact that some of its Member States have shown defiance of its resolutions," he said, listing Israel as "a clear example."

"The United Nations, including the Security Council did not resort to the use of force against these countries," he noted.

Citing academic research, he said that countries other than Iraq were currently violating more than 90 Security Council resolutions, including 31 dealing with Israel.

Lamani voiced strong support for calls for a peaceful solution to the issue, "one which preserves the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the UN's credibility."

Zhang Yishan, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the council that with the Iraqi issue unsolved, at stake are the peace and stability of the Gulf region, welfare of the Iraqi people, as well as the credibility and authority of the council.

"At core of the issue is disarmament," he noted. "Iraq should, as required by relevant council resolutions, cooperate fully during the process of eliminating its weapons of mass destruction."

He said that with a reopened door to Iraq, now the most important thing is to let the inspectors back and get their jobs done. He also called for a comprehensive solution to the Iraqi issued, aimed at alleviating the suffering of its people.

The council began an open debate on Iraq Wednesday, the two-day marathon sessions was designed to allow any of the world body's 191 member states to speak on Iraq before it moved to vote on a tougher US draft on Iraq.

( October 18, 2002)