US, UK seize on missiles as proof of Iraqi defiance

The United States and Britain, struggling to rally support for war, seized yesterday on a finding that Iraq has missiles of prohibited range as proof it is defying the United Nations.

Nato meanwhile, facing one of its deepest crises in its 54-year history, called off a meeting of ambassadors after it became clear they were no nearer to bridging their deep rift over whether to help Turkey with war preparations.

The missile report gave Prime Minister Tony Blair fresh ammunition in the war of words among Nato allies and the five members of the UN Security Council which have the power to veto any new resolution authorising military action in Iraq.

A panel of independent arms experts told the UN the range of Iraq's Al Samoud 2 rockets exceeded by up to 40 km the 150-km limit laid down by UN arms controls.

"If these reports are correct... it is very serious," Blair said after talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"It would be not just a failure to declare and disclose information, but a breach of resolution 1441," Blair said, referring to the November Security Council resolution threatening "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to disarm.

A White House spokeswoman called the missile report "a serious and troubling" development.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, arriving in Italy to put his case to Europe, countered: "We are still within limits that are decided by the United Nations."

Chief UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report to the Security Council on Iraqi compliance today at 1515 GMT.

President Vladimir Putin was quoted in the French press as saying Russia might block further UN steps against Iraq.

"If it is necessary, we will use our veto, but I do not think it is helpful to get into debate about this at the moment," he said. Russian officials at the UN called the missile issue "a technical matter" rather than a serious violation of arms controls.

China has lined up with Russia and France to give the doves an apparent majority among the five Security Council veto powers over the United States and Britain, who say they want a further UN resolution but will go to war without one if necessary.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said yesterday Germany - one of the 10 other members of the Council without a veto - said he did not think Iraq was in "material breach" of 1441.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said a majority of the Council's 15 members supported Germany's position.

"Together with France, Russia and other partners, the government is doing all it can for a peaceful resolution. That is possible and we are fighting for that," he told parliament.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw dismissed Franco-German proposals for more weapons inspectors to be sent to Iraq as an alternative to early military action.

"Those proposals, I'm sorry to say, are unrealistic and impractical. They shift the burden of proof from Iraq... to the inspectors. And they send (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) the signal that defiance pays."

As Washington called up more military reservists, talks were under way on the language of a new UN disarmament resolution on Iraq, a White House spokesman said.

US officials said small units of elite special forces were already inside Iraq, laying the foundation for any invasion.

US intelligence has detected movement by the Iraqi military of large amounts of explosives into southern Iraq, perhaps to destroy oil wells in the event of attack, they said.

Both the United States and Britain, who argue that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction which might fall into the hands of terrorist groups, were on alert for attacks at home.

Washington seized on a taped message attributed to Osama bin Laden which talked of "our Mujahideen brothers" inside Iraq as evidence of an "unholy partnership" between al Qaeda and Iraq.

Within Nato, France, Germany and Belgium have blocked the planning process to help protect Turkey with such items as Patriot defensive missiles, AWACS planes and other aid in the event of a war against Iraq, calling it a premature preparation for such a conflict.

German Defence Minister Peter Struck said yesterday however the deadlock would be broken by tomorrow.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has accepted in principle an invitation to address an emergency summit on Monday of the EU, deeply divided on the crisis. Annan has warned against military action being taken against Iraq without UN approval.

Blair wrote to European Union leaders stressing that the summit should not rule out military action if it was needed to uphold the authority of the United Nations.

A US official said in Geneva it was "unacceptable" for Iraq to take its turn next month as president of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, saying it would discredit the institution. France backed the US position.

An Iraqi diplomat was expelled from the Philippines yesterday for alleged links to Muslim militants. Iraq said the affair was part of a US "campaign of disinformation".

Opponents of war in Iraq have called a series of marches around the world for Saturday. The organisers expect millions of people to turn the anti-war protest into the biggest ever.