UN: A strong personal appeal by the US Secretary of State, Mr ColiPowell, helped secure Syrian support for the US-UK sponsored UN resolution on Iraq.
Syria, the only Arab member of the 15-strong Security Council, had been expected to vote No or abstain. In the event, it voted Yes, despite strong opposition to the resolution voiced across the Arab world.
Syria's state news agency, Sana, acknowledged Mr Powell's intervention last night, saying he had sent a message to the Foreign Minister, Mr Faruq al-Shar. Sana said the UN secretary-general, Mr Kofi Annan, had also played a role in swaying Damascus by defending the resolution in a phone call to President Bashar al-Assad. In a message sent before Syria joined its partners in the Security Council in passing a unanimous vote in favour of the US-drafted resolution, Mr Powell said Iraq was being given a peaceful way out of the crisis.
Mr Powell told Shara that "the final version of [the resolution], following Syrian, French and Russian amendments, offers Iraq a chance to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction in a peaceful way", Sana reported.
The United States "would not have gone to the trouble of discussions over these past weeks with Security Council members if its intention had been to use the resolution as a pretext to declare war" on Iraq, he said.
With Syria being courted by all sides yesterday, French President Mr Jacques Chirac also had a telephone conversation with President Assad just before the vote at the Security Council, Mr Chirac's office said.
Russia also lobbied Damascus. The Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Yuri Fedotov, said it was "the best solution given present circumstances".
Syria's relations with neighbouring Iraq have warmed in the past five years, notably on the economic track, and Damascus has strongly opposed any attack on Baghdad. It is likely that Syria's support will face strident criticism from many Arab quarters in the coming days.
Western nations, however, hailed the resolution as a clear message to President Saddam Hussein to disarm or face military action, while Russia described it as "the best solution given present circumstances" and China called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
"Defy the UN's will and we will disarm you by force," British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said in a warning to President Saddam. "Be in no doubt whatever over that."
President Chirac said the vote "offers a chance for Iraq to disarm in peace." But he warned Saddam not to ignore the warnings of the international community. "The message of the international community is clear. It is united in telling Iraq that it is now time to co-operate fully with the United Nations."
Germany also backed the call to Baghdad to abandon its resistance to weapons inspections. "Saddam Hussein must recognise what severe consequences ignoring this resolution will have," Foreign Minister Mr Joschka Fischer said.
The European Union's chief foreign envoy, Mr Javier Solana, also welcomed the resolution, saying it reflected international "unity" and a determination to bring Baghdad into line.
"The views of the European Union are fully reflected in this text, particularly the key objective of the EU, namely vigorously to address the disarmament of Iraq and to do so within the framework of the UN Security Council," he said.
China's special Middle East envoy, Mr Wang Shejie, said in Beirut that his country wants a peaceful UN-sponsored solution to the Iraq crisis.
"The Iraqi problem can only be resolved through political means under the United Nations framework," Mr Wang told reporters shortly before the resolution was adopted.