New York: The unanimous vote on the American sponsored resolution on Iraq is considered a personal triumph for US Secretary of State Colin Powell who persuaded other members of the Bush administration to get the Security Council approval for a new tough inspection regime and then made 150 telephone calls to bring all Council members on board.

President George Bush was referring to this when he praised "leadership, determination and good work" of Powell at a press conference after the Council adopted the resolution unanimously.

Last week, he was on the phone discussing permutations of the words "material breach" with the French Foreign Minister 20 minutes before walking his daughter down the aisle for her wedding, the 'New York Times' reported.

The two words, material breach, were discussed threadbare during the negotiations as they were considered possible triggers for military action.

Diplomats said an important part of the resolution is the finding that Iraq is in "material breach" of 1991 resolution which brought about ceasefire after the Gulf war.

If Iraq continues in breach of the resolution, the ceasefire could automatically be considered to no longer exist. That means authorisation for military action already exists, they added.

But analysts said Powell's victory could turn sour if the inspections become muddled as many conservatives fear President Saddam Hussein may again play cat-and-mouse game to give run round to inspectors.

The conservatives fear that inspectors might not be able to find much to persuade other Council members that war against Saddam Hussein is necessary.

Whatever the future might hold, for the moment he is getting all praise. The 'Times' quotes a Republican Senator near to him as saying, "This is a tremendous victory for Powell. When you look at (Secretary of Defence) Rumsfeld's position and (Vice- President) Cheney's position on going to the United Nations, there's no doubt that Powell won."

'The Times' quotes diplomats involved in the negotiations on Iraq as saying Powell's efforts were sometimes undercut by words and actions of the Bush administration.

PTI