IN the throes of a global campaign against terrorism, world leaders gathered at the United Nations yesterday to confront the possibility of another war against Iraq and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, South Asia and Afghanistan.

　　A day after marking the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, leaders opened their annual debate in the U.N. General Assembly with U.S. threats of action against Iraq at the top of the global agenda.

　　In his opening address, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly opposed any unilateral U.S. action against Iraq.

　　He called on Iraq to admit inspectors who have been banned for nearly four years or face any consequences the Security Council decides to impose.

　　U.S. President George W. Bush was scheduled to present his case against Iraq. U.S. officials said he would demand that Iraq admit weapons inspectors and urged world leaders to insist on Saddam Hussein's compliance.

　　Bush is one of more than 50 presidents and prime ministers and over 125 foreign ministers scheduled to address the assembly during the high-level session, which ends Sept. 20.

　　Annan opposed any pre-emptive action without Security Council backing, echoing the concerns expressed by many countries, including close U.S. allies.

　　The secretary-general also accused Iraq of continuing to defy mandatory council resolutions adopted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows the use of military force, and he indicated that time was running short for Iraq to admit weapons inspectors and dismantle any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

　　Sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that its weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed. But the inspectors left ahead of U.S. and British air strikes in December 1998, and Iraq has banned them from returning.

　　"If Iraq's defiance continues, the Security Council must face its responsibilities," Annan said.

　　In his speech, the secretary-general put Iraq second on a list of four current threats to world peace "where true leadership and effective action are badly needed."

　　First on the list is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and after Iraq comes Afghanistan and the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir.

　　(SD-Agencies)