Beijing: China on November 9 welcomed the passage of a tougher UN Security Council resolution to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and hoped it would be conducive to a political solution of the Iraq issue, including lifting of sanctions on Baghdad.

"The approval of the resolution at this moment is conducive to the political solution to the Iraq issue and will help maintain the authority of the Security Council. It will also help UN inspectors return to Iraq and carry out their mission smoothly," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.

The Council had on November 8 unanimously adopted a resolution setting Iraq a deadline of 30 days to declare its weapons of mass destruction and give access to UN weapons inspectors to visit any suspect site, including Iraqi Presidential palaces, or face serious consequences.

"The Chinese government's stance on the Iraq issue is consistent and clear," Kong said.

It firmly advocated peaceful settlement of the Iraq issue through political and diplomatic means and within the framework of the United Nations, Kong was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

The Council should consider suspending and finally lifting the 12-year sanctions against Iraq according to Iraq's action in implementing relevant resolutions, he said.

"It was just based on the aforesaid considerations that China cast vote of approval on Resolution 1441 the UN Security Council just adopted," the spokesman said.

PTI