IRAQ: Iraq's alacrity in supplying a voluminous report on its weapons programmes in time to meet a deadline imposed by the UN Security Council has bought Baghdad a breathing space in its confrontation with the US.
The stalemate is likely to last days, if not weeks, as the declaration is first translated and poured over by UN inspectors, and then supplied to members of the Security Council for further study.
A sceptical President George Bush said at the weekend that the onus lay with Baghdad to prove it has provided a full accounting of its weapons capabilities.
Iraq claimed in response that the burden of proof now lay with the US to show what parts of its declaration were inaccurate.
Iraq's declaration of its nuclear, biological and chemical programmes was handed over in Baghdad on Saturday evening in the shape of several telephone directory-sized dossiers and a number of compact discs.
A UN official flew to Vienna yesterday with one copy for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors UN nuclear inspections in Iraq.
Two other copies were due to arrive in New York last night by commercial flight, one for the UN Security Council, the other for the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.
The declaration consists of 11,807 pages, 352 pages of supplements and computer disks with 529 megabytes of data.
It contains details of "dual-use" activities - technology with both peaceful and military applications.
The UN Security Council decided on Friday to postpone the release of the documents to member-states for as long as a week to allow experts to take out any details which could help terrorist groups develop weapons of mass destruction.
The White House will analyse the statement "with respect to its credibility and compliance", said press secretary Mr Ari Fleischer. "We will continue to work with other countries to achieve the ultimate goal of protecting the peace by ending Saddam Hussein's pursuit and accumulation of weapons of mass destruction."
Security Council resolution 1441 required Iraq to file by Sunday an "accurate, full, and complete declaration" of all nuclear, chemical, biological or missile programmes.
"False statements or omissions" will constitute a "material breach", which could be the basis for military action, if coupled with Iraqi non-co-operation with weapons inspections.
In Baghdad, an adviser to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein challenged Washington to put forward proof that Baghdad's account was inaccurate. "It's accurate, comprehensive and truthful," said Gen Amer al-Saadi. If the United States or any other country had anything to the contrary "let them come forth with it".
In his radio address on Saturday, Mr Bush said that the US "will judge the declaration's honesty and completeness only after we have thoroughly examined it, and that will take some time. The declaration must be credible and accurate and complete, or the Iraqi dictator will have demonstrated to the world once again that he has chosen not to change his behaviour".
He added: "Saddam Hussein will fully disarm himself of weapons of mass destruction, and if he does not, America will lead a coalition to disarm him." Inspectors had a duty to uncover "terrible weapons hidden in a vast country", Mr Bush said.
"The responsibility of inspectors is simply to confirm evidence of voluntary and total disarmament.
"War is the last option for confronting threats. Yet the temporary peace of denial and looking away from danger would only be a prelude to a broader war and greater horror."
Former US President Jimmy Carter, in Oslo to collect the Nobel Peace Prize, said Iraqi compliance was a step toward averting a US-led war. "If Iraq does continue to comply completely, then I see no reason for the war and I think it's a good step forward," he said.
"But nobody knows what to expect."