UNITED NATIONS, March 25: The United States and Britain submitted on Wednesday a draft resolution in the UN Security Council that would ban the transfer of weapons of mass destruction to terrorists and others acting without state authority.

The resolution which was under discussion among the Council's five permanent members - China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States - during last four months, would demand that nations adopt and enforce laws prohibiting a "non-state actor" from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

The resolution would require all 191 UN members to "adopt and enforce appropriate effective laws" to prevent "any non-state actor" from being able to "manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery."

"It's a serious gap in the international regime and it's one that needs to be dealt with on an urgent basis," US Ambassador John Negroponte said after presenting the draft resolution to the UN Security Council.

"What we have to do is stop the ultimate nightmare - of bringing together weapons of mass destruction and the terrorists," said Britain's UN Ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry.

The resolution invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, a provision that makes the resolution mandatory. Chapter 7 allows sanctions and military force but in this case neither applies.

It calls on governments to penalize those helping terrorists obtain weapons, but does not provide any sanctions if the states do not comply. Instead, US officials said they relied mainly on "name and shame" pressures on errant nations.

China insisted the original draft drop a provision on the interdiction of suspected shipments of unconventional weapons. But US officials said an existing Proliferation Security Initiative, which so far involves 15 countries, provides legal power to board ships.

No date was set for a vote. But Algeria's UN Ambassador, Abdallah Baali, said Council nations wanted all 191 UN member-states to be briefed on the measure. As a result, adoption of the resolution "will take longer."

The new draft defines a "non-state actor" as an individual or entity not acting under the lawful authority of any state in conducting the banned activities.