¡¡¡¡UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The UN Security Council failed Tuesday to reach any agreement on the date for next meetingon Iraq, a diplomat said.

¡¡¡¡"Most council members want a quick meeting to discuss the issue prompted by Iraq's letter, but they faced strong objection from the United States and Britain and decided to keep it open," a diplomat attending the closed-door council meeting told Xinhua, oncondition of anonymity.

¡¡¡¡Ignited by Iraq's letter Monday night indicating its readiness to accept UN inspectors unconditionally, the UN is undergoing hot debate over "what should be done by the council."

¡¡¡¡Every issue in the complex, including the ongoing annual high-level debate and the diplomatic Quartet meeting on the Middle East,seems to have been overshadowed.

¡¡¡¡But the council still moved slowly, under heavy risk of splitting. UN spokesman Fred Eckhard announced earlier Tuesday that the closed consultation of the council will try to figure out"when will they met on the issue of Iraq," before it can move to discuss whether or not a new resolution would be needed.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, the Iraqis have been reacting quickly to the supportgenerated from its letter of invitation.

¡¡¡¡"We are ready for the speedy and immediate resumption of the inspections of weapons," Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told reports after a meeting between chief UN inspector Hans Blix and senior Iraqi officials on "practical arrangements" for the return of inspectors. Enditem

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