Iraq said today it would start destroying its al Samoud 2 missiles tomorrow, the deadline set by UN weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix, who hailed the news as "very significant".
But the United States and Britain dismissed the Iraqi offer and continued to push for a new resolution from the Security Council authorising military action.
Baghdad has sent a letter to Dr Blix, in which it said it would abide by his order to destroy the missiles which the United Nations said were illegal because their range exceeded limits set in 1991 UN resolutions.
Dr Blix called the Iraqi decision "a very significantpiece of real disarmament."
In a draft report on the last three months of inspections, Mr Blix called Iraq's disarmament "very limited" because Baghdad had not provided crucial evidence about chemical, biological and missile programs. The draft made no recommendations on future inspections. It is expected to be given to Security Council members tonight.
"When this report was written I had to note that while they had taken a number of steps" to accommodate inspectors, Iraq had taken no action regarding its missiles, Blix said today. "So by next week, when I'm introducing my report in the Security Council, there surely are going to be more (updates)."
However, British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said: "This is not a time for games." US President Mr George W. Bush said: "Whatever you see him say now will be attempts to delay or deceive the world".
Mr Blair said he was confident there would be Security Council support for the resolution, introduced jointly on Monday by Britain, Spain and the United States.
"The authority of the United Nations is on the line," Mr Blair said after meeting in Madrid with his Spanish counterpart, Mr Jose Maria Aznar, a fellow ally backing Washington's hard line on Iraq.
"If we fail to confront this dictator with these weapons at this moment . . . then it's going to be much more difficult to negotiate our way through the other threats that we face".
Mr Aznar added: "Saddam Hussein is playing a very cruel game with the desire for peace expressed by millions of people," in reference to anti-war protests around the world on February 15th.
But Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Moscow was prepared to wield its UN veto "where world peace and stability is at stake".
The UN Security Council held more than three hours of inconclusive talks behind closed doors yesterday on the draft resolution, which has so far evinced scant support beyond its three sponsors.
AFP