People are questioning the legitimacy for some member states to proceed to such a fateful action without first reaching a collective decision of this council, Annan

UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the U.S.-led invasion forces ended a grim week of massive aggressions against Iraq, most speakers in a public session of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, March 27, condemned the unauthorized war with a likely humanitarian disaster.

"We call upon you to put an end to this war and to call for the immediate withdrawal of invading forces," the Arab League's representative to the United Nations Yahya Mahmassani said.

"The credibility of the council, the credibility of the whole international system, is collapsing under the bombing of Basra and Baghdad," he warned.  

The meeting, the council's first on Iraq since the war began, was called at the request of the Arab League and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Speaking on behalf of the NAM, Malaysian deputy ambassador Yahya Zainuddin said the U.S. government's assertion of the right to pre-emptive action "is not acceptable and threatens the basis of the international law."

"Terrifying Impact"

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan opened the debate with an appeal to council members to recover their shattered unity.

"All of us must regret that our intense efforts to achieve a peaceful situation through this council did not succeed," Annan said.

"We have all been watching hour by hour on our television screens the terrifying impact of modern weaponry on Iraq and its people," he added.

Annan said he hoped council members would put aside their differences over reactivating the oil-for-food program in Iraq, which was suspended last week after he ordered the evacuation of all international UN staff.

Earlier, council members on both sides expressed optimism that they would rapidly reach agreement on a draft resolution to reactivate the program for 45 days.

Many people were asking why Iraq did not take a final opportunity to disarm peacefully, Annan said.

"At the same time, many people around the world are seriously questioning whether it was legitimate for some member states to proceed to such a fateful action now ... without first reaching a collective decision of this council," he said.

The invasion "has far-reaching consequences, well beyond the immediate military dimensions," he said.

Annan expressed increasing concern about the civilian casualty toll in the war against Iraq, citing a U.S.-British air raids on a residential area of Baghdad that left 14 people dead and more than 30 injured.

He reminded the United States that it is responsible for providing humanitarian aid to civilians in areas controlled by the U.S.-led forces.

The U.N warned of a potential humanitarian crisis in the southern Iraqi city of Basra due to a siege by British forces for more than four days that hampered arrival of relief supplies and left the 1.5 million inhabitants with no drinking potable water. 

In a letter Monday, Iraqi ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri asked for an urgent meeting "with regard to halting the American-British aggression and the immediate withdrawal of the invading forces."

But no draft resolution has been proposed and the council was not expected even to issue a statement, let alone take any decision, on the war, since the United States and Britain both have the power as permanent members to veto it.

Imposed Democracy

Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif dismissed the implicit claim in the military code-name Operation Iraqi Freedom, Washington claims it is launched to topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

"Democracy is not something that can be imposed by tanks and helicopter gunships," Zarif said.

"The Iraqi people may resent their government, but as they have shown in the past several days, they do not accept their liberation through foreign occupation."

Zarif and his Turkish counterpart, Umit Pamir, said their countries, which both share borders with Iraq, were threatened by a flood of refugees from war.

"We cannot allow an influx of refugees into Turkey to take place as it did in 1991," Pamir said, referring to the second Gulf War.

"We are not convinced of the reasoning that is brought forth to explain why such an influx would not happen this time," he said, and added: "Any refugee movement should be met inside Iraq and the people provided with shelter, food and security."

The United States and Britain invaded Iraq last week after failing to secure the votes for a council resolution to strip Iraq of its alleged nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs by force.

Several speakers noted that the majority of council members had supported proposals to disarm Iraq peacefully by pursuing and strengthening U.N. inspections which began on November 27.

But Kuwaiti ambassador Mohammed Abulhasan said the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had “only itself to blame for the war”.

"The regime had persistently rejected council resolutions dating from 1991, when the Kuwaiti people languished under a brutal and abhorrent Iraqi occupation for seven months," he said.

The ambassadors of Australia and Poland, both of which have forces siding with the U.S. troops in Iraq, also blamed Iraq for refusing to disarm and the Security Council for failing to enforce its resolutions.

A total of 63 speakers were scheduled to take the floor in the debate, but council rules allow other speakers to add their names to the list after a meeting begins and the session was expected to continue on Thursday, March 27.