"This (disarming Iraq) is an issue not for any one state, but for the international community as a whole," Annan said in an address at a ceremony marking the 310th anniversary of the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

"When states decide to use force, not in self-defense but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the UN Security Council," he stressed in the televised speech.

"States and peoples around the world attach fundamental importance to such legitimacy, and to the international rule of law."

He warned that the goal to curb global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) would be fatally damaged if such weapons were actually used in a war against Iraq.

"Nothing, of course, would undermine that goal more fatally than the actual use of weapons of mass destruction. I must therefore solemnly warn all parties to forswear any use of such weapons, in Iraq or anywhere," he emphasized.

The United Nations has the duty to "exhaust all possibilities of peaceful settlement, before resorting to the use of force," Annan said.

Annan's calls came as the United States intensified diplomacy to win international support for military action against Iraq, and two top weapons inspectors are due to give a second report on inspections in Iraq.

The UN chief reiterated his belief that Iraq could be disarmed through inspections. "Inspections can work -- as we know from the experience of the early 1990s. Then, United Nations inspectors destroyed many more weapons and facilities than all the bombing had done," he noted.

Nevertheless, the UN chief made it clear that the United Nations will shoulder its responsibilities if Iraq fails to meet its obligations to disarm.

"If Iraq fails to make use of this last chance, and continue its defiance, the (security) council will have to make another grim choice, based on the findings of the inspectors -- a choice more complex, and perhaps more fateful, than the one that faced it in 1990," he said.

"When that time comes, the council must face up to its responsibilities."

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2003)