Bush mocks Iraqi no vote

US President George Bush last night scoffed at the Iraqi parliament’s recommendation that the latest United Nations arms-inspection resolution be rejected, calling it “nothing but a rubber stamp for Saddam Hussein.”

"If Saddam Hussein does not comply to the detail of the resolution, we will lead a coalition to disarm him," Mr Bush said in Washington.

Saddam's brutal son Odai, not averse to killing anyone who stands in his way, had urged Iraqi MPs to vote for the resolution.

But parliament where every MP is a Saddam supporter, overwhelmingly voted to reject the resolution and passed the final decision over to their leader.

"You don't vote against Odai and expect to live, so the whole exercise was an orchestrated farce, said a western diplomat

Odai Saddam Hussein, 38, who won 99.99% of the vote in his constituency in the last elections in 2000, has a high profile in Iraq, running an influential newspaper and a television station.

Flamboyant and said to have a violent temper, he was considered the main candidate to succeed his father as leader of Iraq until he was badly injured in a 1996 assassination attempt.

His younger and lower key brother, Qusai, is now believed to hold a stronger position and has several important posts, including head of the Republican Guards, the country's best-trained and equipped troops.

In a letter to MPs, Odai said acceptance of the UN resolution would not necessarily ward off war.

"We have to know our enemy and that the UN resolution does not mean stopping him from committing military action.

"We also have to take precautions and measures and here we have to ask the Arab countries to immediately cut oil supplies to those countries that launch a military strike or aggression on Iraq and to any country that allows foreign war planes to use their airports or offer logistic support for them for refuelling,' his letter said.

White House spokesman Sean McCormack called that vote "pure political theatre.

If Saddam hopes to use the unanimous parliament vote as a ploy to extract concessions, Mr McCormack said, he will fail. "There's nothing in this resolution that is negotiable. I don't think there's anybody who believes the Iraqi parliament has a serious voice in what does or doesn't happen in Iraq.

"There is only one voice that matters in this despotic regime and that is from Saddam Hussein. This is really, I think, pure political theatre."

France warned that force would be used against Saddam if he does not cooperate with UN weapons inspectors.

"If he does not comply, if he does not meet his obligations, then the use of force will obviously be confirmed," said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.