Saddam's son urges 'yes' vote

Parliament is fiercely loyal to Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein's eldest son has called on the Iraqi parliament to back a United Nations resolution requiring the return of weapons inspectors, bitterly condemned by many MPs.

"We should, as a national assembly, accept the UN resolution which is under debate in these sessions," Uday Hussein urged in a written message as a heated parliamentary debate on the issue entered its second day.

Saddam's elder son Uday largely controls the media

Correspondents believe that the deputies may vote on Tuesday, ahead of the UN's Friday deadline for Baghdad to comply with the resolution.

France has added to the pressure with a stark warning that the alternative is military action.

"If Saddam Hussein does not comply, if he does not satisfy his obligations, there will obviously be a use of force," Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in a radio interview in Paris.

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Following the UN Security Council's adoption of the new resolution, "we can now expect that any decision on force would be made unanimously", he added.

In his message to the parliament, Uday Hussein also called for the weapons inspectors to include "Arab technicians and observers".

However, he added that the parliament should accept the resolution "without restrictions because the initiative is not in our hands".

'Pretext for war'

The parliament has no effective power and has already acknowledged that the final decision on the resolution rests with President Saddam.

But on Monday MPs attacked the resolution and the parliament's foreign relations committee recommended that it be rejected.

Next steps

Iraq must confirm whether it will "comply fully" with the resolution by Friday

Iraq then has 30 days to reveal all programmes, plants and materials which could be used for weapons production

Inspectors must be allowed to resume checks within 45 days of resolution being passed

Thereafter, inspectors have 60 days to report back to the Security Council but may report violations earlier

Click here for the timetable

One MP told the BBC that the resolution was designed to give the US a pretext for making war on his country.

"If you read it - I have - carefully, again, you'll find that any small mistake could happen or any pretext could be raised by any inspector - it will cause the war," said Dr Muhammed Muzaffar al-Adhami.

"It seems to me as if it is... a cover, legitimate cover to the United States to launch an aggression against Iraq."

The assembly's speaker, Saadun Hammadi, said the document was unacceptable and a violation of Iraq's sovereignty.

Salim al-Koubaisi, head of the foreign relations committee, said his committee advised rejection.

Parliament 'irrelevant'

The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad says the strong condemnation of the UN resolution was surprising, as it had been assumed that parliament would reluctantly accept it.

Washington has warned again that Iraq will face military action if it defies the resolution, which gives UN arms inspectors sweeping new rights.

US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice dismissed the Iraqi parliamentary condemnation, saying Washington would wait to hear from the Iraqi Government officially.

"Let's be very clear: they don't have the right to accept or reject this resolution," she said.

Members of the Iraqi parliament are carefully vetted and can only make recommendations - the power to make decisions rests with the Iraqi leader and his close aides.

Our correspondent says that after the heated rhetoric in parliament, Saddam Hussein will be making some cold, hard calculations about what to do next.