Britain and the US continued their preparations for war in Iraq overnight with the US sending military command staff to the Gulf and British Prime Minister Tony Blair calling for global backing for any attack on Iraq.
Mr Blair warned there would be a price to pay for weakness, as he called up 1,500 reservists destined for service on naval ships in the Gulf.
"Unless the world takes a stand on [weapons of mass destruction] we will rue the consequences of our weakness," said Mr Blair.
He also said Washington must do more to help solve problems such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and poverty in the developing world, if it was to win support on Iraq.
"[Other countries] want the US to listen back," he said in a speech to British diplomats in London that aimed at wooing support from a largely wary Muslim world and from European nations suspicious of Washington's post-Cold War dominance.
French President Jacques Chirac underlined the difficulties of achieving Mr Blair's aim of consensus on world issues, issuing a clear warning to the United States against unilateral action. He told French troops to be ready but stressed "the international community should only resort to war as a last resort".
Strategic US ally Saudi Arabia also reiterated its need for UN proof Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction before deciding whether it would allow its bases to be used for any attack.
While, US President George W Bush has already warned he will take unilateral action without UN sanction the Security Council meeting on January 27th is looking increasingly like the date when international momentum for war will either increase or recede.
UN arms inspector Mr Hans Blix will report tomorrow on Iraqi compliance with searches before delivering a fuller assessment on January 27th.
So far UN arms inspectors have not reported any evidence to support the case for war after weeks of searches but Iraq's recently-submitted dossier detailing its military and nuclear capability has been met with widespread scepticism.
Though the inspectors have said their work could take all year, January has taken on significance because military experts say the Pentagon would favor waging war against Baghdad before the fierce heat of Iraq's summer from around April.
The US is still sending warplanes and ships into the Gulf region and plans to at least double the 60,000 troops it already has there.
In a clear sign of its intention to press ahead with plans to attack, US Central Command, which would direct any attack on Iraq, began moving war planners to a base in Qatar from its headquarters in Florida.
Mr Jim Wilkinson, the Central Command director of strategic communications, said: "Central Command continues to cycle personnel into and out of the region.
"We refuse to discuss deployments in advance. However, you can expect to see continuing deployments to Qatar and elsewhere in support of ongoing diplomatic activities."
In other moves, the US Navy readied two carrier battle groups to supplement the two already in the region.
Meanhwile, Saddam warned that Iraq was no easy target like Taliban-run Afghanistan proved to be, saying he ruled a country with a stable government and armed forces that were stronger than they had been in the 1991 Gulf War.
"It seems that what the enemy called the fall of the Taliban regime is tempting it to launch an aggression against Iraq," Saddam told officers of his elite Republican Guards.
State television broadcast defiant pictures of thousands of men and women volunteer soldiers in combat fatigues and carrying AK-47 rifles marching near Baghdad.
PA &