The UN Security Council on Thursday took action to curb the use of children in war after the measure had been delayed for months by complaints from Britain and Russia.

The two nations, both permanent council members with veto power, objected respectively to wording in last year's UN report on child soldiers that referred to "armed conflicts" in Northern Ireland and Chechnya.

They demanded and obtained official corrections to the report that softened the language, which cleared the way for the 15-nation council to pass a French-drafted resolution unanimously.

UN officials said it was rare for the world body to backtrack on published reports because of political pressure from governments, saying disputes are normally worked out in advance before such documents are made official.

Children's rights groups, which have been lobbying the United Nations on the issue for years, said they were happy with the resolution but expressed dismay that the political squabbling had held up the vote since January.

"During the four months it has taken to resolve issues related to this resolution, children all over the world continue to be subjected to grave violations of their rights," the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said in a statement.

The resolution asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to establish a system to monitor and report on the recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as other abuses, including children being forced into sexual slavery.

It said Annan should set up the monitoring mechanism within 90 days, by which time governments and rebel groups should also prepare "concrete time-bound action plans" to halt the use of children in war.

The council asked Annan to ensure compliance and said it might consider arms embargoes and an end to military assistance for parties that do not cooperate, but stopped short of saying it would automatically punish them.

Last year's report, issued in Annan's name, said violators should be punished - Sapa-AFP.