quot;Warquot; over, focus now on consensus

8220;What we will be seeking to is to build the broadest possible consensus in the international community against Saddam and make sure that he is as isolated as possible, both in the international community and among his own people in Iraq,8221; Cook said in London.

Meanwhile, UN Special Commission for disarmament UNSCOM officials said the weapon inspectors had been asked to remain in readiness to go back to Iraq at a short notice. Spokesperson Caroline Crosssaid Commission chief Richard Butler has asked us to remain in readiness to go back to Baghdad.8217; Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassian Ramadan yesterday declared that UNSCOM was history and would not be allowed back.

But after seven years of trying to ferret out Iraq8217;s weapons, the UN Security Council today considers morning-after-the bombing scenarios with little agreement in sight. 8220;We are hoping for consensus but expect confusion in the first days,8221; said Slovenia8217;s ambassador Danilo Turk, whose country has a seat on the 15-member Security Council.

While France and Russia have spoken about a new way to conduct arms inspections, the United States and Britain have come up with no diplomatic initiatives.

In contrast, France is suggesting a new kind of UNSCOM, perhaps less aggressive than the current unit and more like the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA.

Several Council members, particularly Russia, China and France, would like to see Butler removed and Moscow has called for hisdismissal or resignation openly.

In turn Butler said he would not resign unless he were the sole cause of Iraq8217;s refusal to cooperate with arms inspectors which he doubted was the case. So far, however, the US and Britain still strongly support him.

As a battered but cocky and unfazed Saddam poured scorn over Clinton8217;s attempt to undo him, declaring to the Iraqis, 8220;You lived up to expectations.. so God rewarded you with the crown of victory8221;, support came from the Arab world.

Staunch western ally Jordan publicly welcomed the ending of the strikes but privately officials expressed bitterness that they had taken place at all.8220;The gap between the moderate Arab regimes and their peoples will increase,8221; said a former Jordanian Prime minister who asked not to be named. 8220;All the United States will have achieved is to create even more difficulties for these regimes, to give Saddam Hussein an excuse to break off any cooperation with the UN, and to create fertile ground for terrorist organisations,8221; hesaid.

Saudi Arabia was the only Arab nation to take a strong anti-Iraq line. The official press, which called for Saddam8217;s overthrow throughout the crisis, lamented that the Iraqi leader was still n power.

Kuwait, the target of Iraq8217;s 1990 invasion, welcomed the action8217;s end in the 8220;sincere hope that 8230; the spreading atmosphere of instability in this vital area of the world be eliminated.8221;

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is counting on US President Bill Clinton to help the peace process, remained circumspect. 8220;What8217;s most important is that the raids have ended and that there is a ceasefire,8221; was all he said.

Meanwhile, Iranian foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi has told his British counterpart Robin Cook that the Muslim world was strongly opposed to the four-day air strike on Iraq. 8220;Public opinion in Muslim nations is fiercely opposed to these kinds of operations,8221; Kharazi yesterday said in a telephone conversation with Cook reported by the official Irna news agency.