US: US President Mr Bush yesterday asked the US Congress for authority to take military action against Iraq to enforce UN resolutions on disarmament and to effect a regime change in Baghdad.
At the same time, Mr Bush sent an unmistakable message to the UN of US intent to move against Iraq with or without UN approval.
He said if the UN Security Council would not deal with the problem of Iraqi disarmament, then "the United States and some of our friends will".
While the White House stepped up its threat of war against Iraq on the domestic and international front, Iraq's Foreign Minister, Mr Naji Sabri, repeated Baghdad's offer to allow the return of UN weapons inspectors without conditions, but called for discussions on the issue and for respect for Iraq's sovereignty and security.
Mr Bush, however, brushed aside contemptuously any suggestion of talks with Iraq on any issue. "There are no negotiations to be held with Iraq," he told reporters. "They have nothing to negotiate."
The White House also dismissed as "deceptions" Baghdad's contention in a speech by Mr Sabri to the UN General Assembly yesterday that "Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons" .
Mr Bush sent a draft resolution on the use of force to Capitol Hill yesterday, having received assurances from congressional leaders that it could be passed within two weeks. The resolution would authorise the US President "to use all means that he determines to be appropriate, including force", to enforce UN resolutions and to "defend the national security interests of the United States against the threat posed by Iraq, and restore international peace and security in the region".
It accuses Baghdad of having chemical and biological weapons, says al-Qaeda terrorists "are known to be in Iraq", and cites a US act calling for "efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime and promote the emergence of a democratic government".
The US and Britain have kept up pressure for speedy action against Iraq by circulating the draft of a new Security Council resolution which would reportedly give Baghdad a deadline of 15 days for return of inspectors with "unfettered access".
It would also include tough new directions to weapons inspectors on probing Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear sites, according to diplomatic sources.
US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell and Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld met the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, in Washington yesterday to try to overcome Moscow's objections to a new resolution.
Russia and France, which have veto power on the Security Council, have reservations about the need for a new resolution despite the White House insistence that old-style inspections are a waste of time.
Mr Ivanov appeared to be holding out for US concessions, saying he believed UN weapons inspectors "can easily establish (whether) there exist or not weapons of mass destruction technology" .
A draft US-UK resolution may be introduced to the Security Council as early as today declaring that Iraq is in "material breach" of international law for its failure to comply with UN mandates, a phrase used in the past to authorise military action.
Late yesterday, Dr Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, briefed the 15 Security Council members on the resumption of inspections and the wording of a new resolution. This evening the British ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, will speak to the 10 elected members to rally support for a tough new resolution, possibly tabled by the UK on behalf of the US.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly, the Iraqi Foreign Minister quoted from a letter sent by Mr Saddam Hussein to the UN secretary general, Dr Kofi Annan, accusing the US of seeking to get control of Iraq's oil.
Mr Saddam asked the UN to apply to all countries in the region Article 14 of Security Council Resolution 687 passed in 1991, calling for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. It should also be applied to the "Zionist entity", he said.
He accused the US administration of wanting "to destroy Iraq in order to control the Middle East oil, and consequently control the politics as well as the oil and economic policies of the whole world...In targeting Iraq, the United States administration is acting on behalf of Zionism which has been killing the heroic people of Palestine, destroying their property, murdering their children."
Many Democratic Congress members are sceptical about giving power to Mr Bush to use force against Iraq. House member Ms Barbara Lee of California said she had the support of 20 colleagues calling on the US to work with the UN. "A pre-emptive, unilateral first strike would set a terrible international precedent."