BAGHDAD, September 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraq hopes it has averted a U.S. strike by agreeing to readmit United Nations arms inspectors, a move that has divided the U.N. Security Council but failed to sway Washington's determination to overthrow President Saddam Hussein.

Brushing aside Iraq's surprise decision to allow the inspectors back after a four-year hiatus as a new "ploy," U.S. President George W. Bush kept up the pressure on Baghdad and the United Nations by seeking Congress' approval for use of military force if the U.N. “failed to disarm Iraq.”

However, the sanctions rocked country has not yet been determined to have any weapons of mass destruction. Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter has stated that he believes Iraq was qualitatively disarmed during the last weapons inspection round.

Washington is pushing for the adoption of a "tougher" new U.N. Security Council resolution that would allow the use of force against Iraq if Baghdad failed to honor its disarmament obligations.

But Iraq was quick to announce on Saturday that it would not accept a new U.N. resolution that would impose fresh conditions on disarmament.

"Iraq will not deal with any new resolution that would run counter to what was agreed upon with the U.N. secretary general, Kofi Annan,” an official spokesman said after a leadership meeting chaired by Saddam.

"A resolution will be voted, but its content will depend on the outcome of ongoing discussions among various Council members," a Baghdad-based western diplomat told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He said Iraqi authorities, keen not to provoke a U.S. military strike, would "cooperate" with the inspectors.

"How the inspectors themselves will behave remains to be seen," the diplomat added, requesting anonymity.

Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said on Wednesday he had "received information from New York on attempts to make the inspectors act in a manner that would provoke Iraq and cause crises like that of December 1998," when Iraq came under a U.S.-British bombing blitz for allegedly failing to cooperate with the arms experts.

A day before, Aziz had said it was "now up to the other members of the Security Council, mainly France, Russia and China ... to [assume] their responsibilities.

"They have to say what is right and what is wrong. When the inspectors do not act honestly and professionally they should tell them behave yourselves, according to what the Security Council wants, and not what Washington and London want."

Aziz said Annan too should assume "his own responsibilities firmly in securing the honest and professional implementation of the inspections in Iraq."

After briefing the U.N. Security Council on details of restarting the inspections in Iraq, chief arms inspector Hans Blix said he hoped to send an advance team to Iraq on October 15.

The date coincides with a presidential referendum designed to give Saddam another seven-year mandate.

Consecutive crises have marred relations between Iraq and the U.N. inspectors since the start of their mission in 1991, particularly over access to certain sites.

Another diplomat told AFP that Iraq's reversal was meant to block the adoption of a new Security Council resolution, but Washington's determination seems to be paying off.

After casting doubt on the necessity of a new resolution, France said it was not against one so long as it was limited to disarmament and arrangements for arms inspections - excluding the use of force.

"The content of a new resolution will be decisive for future developments," the diplomat said.

The talk of war meanwhile goes on.

The Washington Times reported Friday that U.S. military planners had set a date for a strike, with a focus on February as the best time to launch an attack that would also count on defecting Iraqi units to topple the Iraqi leader.