Bush says he will force UN war vote within days

6.30pm

WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush said today he will force a vote within days seeking UN authorisation to invade Iraq, a decision that ratchets up pressure on major powers opposing his push for Security Council backing.

Dismissing Iraq's destruction of banned missiles in recent days as a charade, Bush reiterated he could launch a war without UN approval because US security was paramount.

"If we need to act, we will act and we really don't need the UN's approval to do so," Bush said in only the second prime-time news conference of his presidency. "When it comes to our security, we really don't need anybody's permission."

Asked if he was close to a war decision, Bush said he was still in the final stages of diplomacy. He said he would spend only a matter of days trying to persuade nations to support a new UN resolution before bringing the issue to a vote regardless of its chances of passage.

Britain, the strongest US ally on Iraq, said it was searching for a formula that could command a majority in the Security Council, where Bush faces increasingly stiff opposition from veto-holders France, Russia and China.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell also discussed possible changes in the proposed text of the new resolution with foreign ministers of key European nations in an effort to win wider support.

"We're days away from resolving this issue at the Security Council," Bush said. "It's time for people to show their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."

Bush accused Iraq of hiding materials for weapons of mass destruction and ordering continued production of banned missiles while making a "public show" of destroying some arms.

"These are not the actions of a regime that is disarming. These are the actions of a regime engaged in a willful charade ... If the world fails to confront the threat posed by the Iraqi regime, refusing to use force even as a last resort, free nations would assume immense and unacceptable risks," he added.

Bush argued for force on a day when he ran into more opposition at home and abroad over how to disarm Iraq.

China joined an anti-war coalition while Sen. Tom Daschle, the top Senate Democrat, broke ranks with Bush over Iraq, accusing him of "rushing to war."

With about 300,000 troops poised to attack Iraq as soon as Bush gives the order, the United States has been trying to round up the nine votes needed in the Security Council.

So far the United States only has four certain votes -- its own and those of Britain, Spain and Bulgaria. Britain, which has been Washington's closest ally, said it was ready to amend the resolution as a way of winning over a majority in the 15-member council but not to change it substantively.

"There's certainly a possibility of an amendment and that's something we're looking at," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told a news conference.

Diplomats said Britain was floating a proposal that would give Iraq a deadline of less than a week to show it had no nuclear, biological or chemical weapons programmes after a resolution authorising war was adopted.

Iraq denies it has such weapons and says it is complying with UN demands over disarmament.

China on Thursday joined France, Russia and Germany in vowing to block the draft resolution authorising war. "China endorses and supports their joint statement," Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said.

Other nations on the council remain uncommitted and Washington has made no public progress in recent days in shifting any of them off the fence.

On Friday, foreign ministers from all the major players are due to meet at the United Nations to hear the latest update from top UN weapons inspectors.

But the report was unlikely to shift positions. It was expected to offer ammunition to both sides by stating that Iraqi cooperation has improved, but not enough.

Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix also will distribute a 167-page report that disputes Iraq's claim to have destroyed 21,000 litres of biological warfare agents, including anthrax, 12 years ago.

The report, obtained by Reuters, says Iraq may be developing new banned missiles, calls on Baghdad to surrender any remaining biological, chemical or Scud missiles, and asks it to explain the fate of missing chemical agents.

But the report is bound to encourage France and others lined up against the United States by setting out a programme of work for Iraq to follow in accounting for dangerous arms.

The head of the UN nuclear agency was also expected on Friday to express doubts over US allegations Iraq has tried to revive its secret nuclear weapons programme, diplomats said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is expected in his report to the Security Council to undermine Washington's position as it scrambles for support for a new resolution.

Bush's domestic consensus around the war showed signs of fraying in the face of an international anti-war movement that has mobilised millions of people to oppose the war.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said on Thursday an invasion of Iraq now would be premature, and accused the administration of failing to build international support for war to oust Saddam.

In what sounded like a prelude to war, defence officials said US and British warplanes have more than doubled their patrols over the Iraqi "no-fly" zones to at least 500 a day. They said the sharp increase was designed to confuse air defences before a possible invasion.

The no-fly zones were set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds in northern Iraq and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from Baghdad's forces. Iraq does not recognise the zones.

The United States also issued the latest in a series of accusations in a war of words with Saddam, charging that Iraq planned to kit paramilitary fighters out in US-style uniform, have them attack Iraqi civilians and blame it on Western forces.

Complicating Bush's focus on Iraq is North Korea's ambitions to build a nuclear weapons programme - a crisis that the United States has opted to tackle with diplomacy.

The president on Thursday said the best way to deal with North Korea was a multilateral diplomatic approach involving the United States, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia.

- REUTERS