United Nations: An agreement between US and France on a draft UN resolution aimed at disarming Iraq has cleared the way for the crucial vote on it on November 8 even as President George W Bush said he was optimistic that the proposal would be approved.

Bush said he had spoken to both Russian President and Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart on telephone, saying, "He was optimistic that I will get the resolution vote."

"When this resolution passes, I will be able to say that the United Nations has recognised the threat and we are going to work together to disarm him," Bush told reporters.

French President Jacques Chirac and Bush "spoke by telephone on the subject of Iraq and finalised an agreement on the points that remained outstanding between France and the US", reports said.

Paris and been seeking assurances hat the US-proposed resolution would not allow the automatic use of force if Iraq fails to scrap its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

American Ambassador to the UN also said that he sensed "broad support for the resolution".

Diplomats expect Russia to vote for the resolution though it was playing cards close to their chest.

Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov was guarded, saying, "We heard explanations that neither of the co-sponsors interprets the language as containing automatic use of force and we will be reporting this to our capital."

PTI