Saddam basks in poll glory

Basking in a 100 per cent domestic approval rating for President Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi government yesterday suggested it may cooperate with new Western demands on UN arms inspections.

The United States and Britain have stepped up pressure for Iraq to disarm, saying devastating weekend bomb attacks in Bali made them more determined to pursue their "war on terrorism" and would not distract them from their campaign against Iraq.

Announcing the results of a referendum in which Saddam, the sole candidate, won every vote and a new term in office, the president's top deputy left the door open for cooperation with any new UN resolution on weapons inspections.

Iraqi officials have previously rejected any new resolution out of hand.

"If the Security Council issues a resolution that contradicts what we had agreed upon (previously)...we will take a position regarding it then," said Izzat Ibrahim, deputy chairman of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council.

UN members were due to start the first public debate on the Iraq crisis in New York on Wednesday.

For three weeks, key Security Council members have failed to agree on a US-drafted resolution demanding the return of inspectors to Iraq and threatening military action if their work was hindered.

The draft is supported by Britain but France, backed by the other council veto-holders China and Russia, favours two separate resolutions.

The deadlock has delayed the return of UN inspectors, who abandoned their hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in December 1998.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau expressed irritation on Wednesday at the delay but indicated Paris had not changed its stand. Russia, too, dug in its heels.

"The American draft resolution on Iraq has not undergone any changes. It is unacceptable and Russia cannot support it," Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told Interfax news agency.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that, whether in one step or two, he expected the Security Council to pass a resolution allowing weapons inspectors to return with greater powers and urged Baghdad to comply.

"I think the question whether there will be one or two resolutions is something that is hotly debated and discussed by the member states in New York," he told a news conference in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.

"What I firmly believe is that at the end of the day, when those discussions are over, the council will come up with the optimal decision...that will allow the inspectors to go back with a strengthened hand and continue their work."

Dozens of ambassadors are expected to address the council in marathon sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. Some council members speculated the United States would introduce its resolution soon but others said next week was more likely.

In Baghdad, Ibrahim said Iraq hoped its friends on the UN Security Council would block efforts to pass the US draft. But for most government supporters, the attention was not on diplomacy but on celebrating victory for their "eternal leader".

Official results from Tuesday's referendum showed that every one of Iraq's 11,445,638 eligible voters turned out to vote "Yes" to another seven-year term for Saddam, some marking their ballot papers in blood.

Fireworks lit the night sky by the Tigris river as small numbers of residents slaughtered sheep, a traditional Arab act of celebration.

The outcome was never in doubt with the voting process tightly controlled by the government and no independent observers or other candidates.

But authorities had urged voters to turn out in force to show massive support for Saddam in the face of US President George W. Bush's policy of "regime change".

"Tell Bush we chose Saddam as our leader forever," said a driver shouting from his car window, honking his horn.

The United States dismissed the vote: "It is not even worthy of our ridicule," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Bush accuses Saddam of developing weapons of mass destruction and is unwavering in his declared desire to topple the man who has ruled Iraq for 23 years. On Wednesday, the US president will formally sign a congressional resolution authorising the use of American forces against Iraq if needed.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit joined regional states urging Washington to abandon the idea of military action. He said the United States would be unable to carry out an attack without the support of Turkey, Iraq's northern neighbour.

"We are telling them we cannot agree to all that they want," Ecevit said in comments published on the NTV television website.

Analysts said however Turkey would be almost certain ultimately to back its Nato ally with the use airbases and special forces facilities that Washington may request.

Iraq denies it has nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.