'Seize This Opportunity' Iraq Indicates It Will Comply. (Peacewatch)

Beginning of article

The Security Council unanimously approved a tough new resolution--1441 (2002)--aimed at United Nations weapons inspectors returning to Iraq. Following eight weeks of intensive negotiations, the resolution allowed the 15-member Council to speak with a united voice and send a clear signal to Iraq that it has a "final opportunity" to disarm, and also warned of "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to comply.

Immediately after the vote, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that "how this crisis is resolved will affect greatly the course of peace and security in the region and the world". He urged Iraq to "seize this opportunity" and meet the Council's demands, and appealed to all Governments with influence to remain engaged.

The two original sponsors of the resolution--the United States and the United Kingdom--welcomed its adoption. United States President George Bush said: "Now comes the hard part: the Security Council must maintain its unity and sense of purpose so that the Iraqi regime cannot revert to the strategies of obstruction and deception it used so successfully in the past." Prime Minister Tony …