The meeting took place one day after US President George W. Bush announced the United States would show the council on Feb. 5 hard evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

NO OBJECTION TO MORE INSPECTIONS

"Nobody" on the council expressed objection to the extension of inspections during the session, according to Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov.

Participants in the consultations included Hans Blix, head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

During the noon break, Council President Jean-Marc de La Sabliere told reporters that most member states of the Security Council favored giving weapons inspectors in Iraq more time to complete their job.

A majority of the council members is "in favor of disarming Iraq through peaceful means" and "giving inspectors more time," said French Ambassador La Sabliere.

"It is obvious that the inspection work, which started just two months ago, need time," La Sabliere said, citing the remaining issues specified by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix in his Monday report.

To disarm Iraq peacefully is the common goal of the Security Council and the goal of the key council resolution 1441, he stressed, adding that there is no time limit on inspection work in the resolution.

La Sabliere also called on the Iraqi government to cooperate actively with inspectors in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1441.

"The current level of Iraq's cooperation is not enough," he said. "It is essential for Iraq to do more. Iraq must intensify cooperation to facilitate the work of inspectors."

The 15-nation council welcomed the United States' decision to disclose information on Iraq's banned weapons programs to the council on Feb. 5, La Sabliere said.

IRAQ PLEDGES TO COOPERATE

Before the council convened Wednesday morning, Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Mohammed Ali issued a statement, saying: "Iraq has implemented all resolutions related to the disarmament issues."

"In spite of that, we are reaching out to the international community, saying we will go a step further and proactively cooperate with the inspectors to prove that these baseless allegations are nothing but fabrications," it said.

The Iraqi mission also submitted a 14-point letter to the council to explain the so-called unanswered questions mentioned in Blix's Monday report, which include the issues of anthrax, U-2 surveillance flights and ballistic missiles.

The letter criticized Blix for being "short in its description of Iraq's cooperation" and "long in references to unsubstantiated claims, presumptions and misrepresentations" of Iraq's record of compliance with UN resolutions regarding its disarmament commitment.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2003)