The US could launch a strike on Iraq with or without United Nations support, President George W Bush warned today.
The US president said if the United Nations Security Council does not take firm action to disarm Iraq, the US and some key allies will act.
"If the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will," he said as he discussed policy towards Baghdad with top aides including US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Mr Bush's comments come as the Russian Defence minister rejected doubts about the value of weapons inspectors returning to Iraq.
As he arrived at the Pentagon for talks with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Mr Sergei Ivanov said Russia always supported unconditional international inspections and that inspectors could "easily" establish if Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
"Being experienced in that sort of business, both Americans and Russians, we can easily establish whether there exists or not weapons of mass destruction technology, some sort of programs or preparations of something which should not be done," he said.
"It's not a question of trust or mistrust. It's a question of facts," Mr Ivanov said.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Foreign Minister Mr Naji Sabri told the UN today that his country did not have weapons of mass destruction and that Mr Bush's threatened attack was an attempt to control oil in the Middle East.
Reading a message from President Saddam Hussein, the minister also hinted that entry for the UN inspectors returning to Iraq may not be unconditional. He warned Iraq's sovereignty and security arrangements would need to be respected.
"The US administration wants 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," Saddam's meassage said.
"I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons," the message continued.
"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."
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