"Iraq reaffirms that peaceful means, dialogue and cooperation are the best means to resolve the current crisis," Iraqi UN Ambassador Mohammed Aldouri said, calling on the 191 UN member-nations "to prevent a catastrophe which has now become imminent."

But Kuwait, speaking next at the start of a two-day meeting proposed by the Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations, recalled Iraq's 1990 invasion of the emirate and said war or peace would be up to the Iraqi government.

"The draft resolution before the council gives the Iraqi government an additional period of time during which it could reveal its holdings of weapons of mass destruction," Kuwaiti UN Ambassador Mohammad Abulhasan said.

"We in Kuwait hope that the Iraqi government will avail itself of this opportunity and will accept the international community's appeal and prevent the region from the sufferings of war," Abulhasan said.

The council agreed to the debate to hear from the 176 nations that are not Security Council members. The 15 council nations are weighing a draft resolution put forward by the United States, Britain and Spain that would pave the way for a US-led war.

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The United States has called for a vote by the end of this week on the resolution while signaling it was open to some modification that could broaden support for the proposal in the deeply divided council.

Aldouri insisted that Baghdad had no weapons of mass destruction and accused the Untied States and Britain of using council resolutions and the UN inspections "as a pretext to declare war on Iraq."

"Iraq has taken the strategic decision to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction. Had this decision not been the right decision, it would not have cooperated with UNMOVIC," the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, he said.

He denied that a drone that Baghdad was developing was illegal, although chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix said on Monday Iraq should have declared the pilotless aircraft.

"It is not a weapon of mass destruction. Nor is it a delivery method which goes beyond the range set in Security Council resolutions," he said.

US objections to the weapon "show the bankruptcy of the US administration in attempting to convince the international community of the truth of its allegations," Aldouri said.

"Their objective is to lay their hands on our oil, to control the region, to redraw its borders in order to ensure the vital interests of the United States of America for a long time to come. This is a new direct colonization of the region," he said.

Malaysia, which currently heads the Non-Aligned Movement of 115 developing nations, pleaded for a peaceful resolution.

"In the name of humanity, we appeal to the members of the council not to resort to military action against Iraq," Malaysian envoy Zainuddin Yahya.

(China Daily March 12, 2003)