The decision of the UN Security Council and the inspection team on the matter could avert conflict and war in West Asia, Syed Hamid told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

"All the big powers in the world should respect the decision to be issued by the UN and should not make a decision contrary to the UN decision," he said.

Syed Hamid said this when asked to comment on the stand of the United States and its allies to attack Iraq as part of their war against terrorism even in the absence of an official UN decision on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

This was apparent when President George W. Bush and his close ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped up their campaign to convince the world to support their action to attack Iraq and topple President Saddam Hussein.

Syed Hamid said such actions were unfair as the United Nations and arms inspectors had not yet issued any official decision on the matter.

"Such actions do not help to create peace, whether in that region or at the international level," he said.

Amir al-Saadi, an adviser to Saddam, was reported to have said that Iraq had handed over the full documentation on its nuclear program to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as part of a UN Security Council mandated arms declaration.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2002)