DATE=10/16/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=UN/IRAQ/VOTE (S)

NUMBER=2-308683

BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN

DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The U-N Security Council has unanimously adopted a U-S-drafted resolution on Iraq's future. Peter Heinlein has details from U-N headquarters.

TEXT: U-S diplomats hailed the vote as a victory for diplomacy, after a string of setbacks on issues relating to Iraq. Council unanimity seemed impossible just days earlier, with several members expressing serious reservations, especially about the pace of the transfer of responsibilities to Iraqis.

The turnabout was solidified only hours before the vote, during a video-conference call linking the leaders of European skeptics France, Germany and Russia.

Secretary General Kofi Annan - who had earlier spoken of the importance of a broad mandate for the resolution - emphasized that the handover of sovereignty must be quick.

/// ANNAN ACT ///

Our common objective is to restore peace and stability to a sovereign, independent and democratic Iraq as quickly as possible.

///END ACT///

The vote will be a big boost to U-S efforts to win international support for the reconstruction effort at a donors' conference next week in Madrid. (SIGNED)

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