Bush calls for UN to stand firm

The United States and Britain have tonight urged the United Nations to stand firm over Iraq as the chief weapons inspector Hans Blix prepares to deliver the report which could determine whether there is to be peace or war in the Gulf.

With less than 24 hours to go, the United States and Britain have cited reports that Iraq has missiles with a longer than permitted range as further proof that Iraq is in material breach of UN resolutions.

In a speech to US navy personnel in Florida, Mr Bush said the UN must have the backbone and courage to enforce its resolutions, while the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said there could be no illusions that this means disarmament by force.

In a letter to the other 14 EU prime ministers, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair has urged them not to rule out the use of force.

However in Berlin, the man who will chair tomorrow's Security Council meeting, Germany's foreign minister, Yoshka Fischer said that Iraq was not in breach of resolution 1441 and that there was no trigger for war.

He was speaking after a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen.

Annan warns of war consequences

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been briefing the Security Council on the likely humanitarian consequences of a war in Iraq.

While Mr Annan said that war was not inevitable, he had decided to outline the status of the UN's contingency plans.

Non-governmental organisations have warned of a 'humanitarian catastrophe' should a war break out.

Earlier, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz urged the UN to give its weapons inspectors more time to judge if Baghdad was complying with resolutions on disarming.

'Those who say that there is no more time are those who are afraid of the truth,' he said in Rome.

Mr Aziz is on a four-day visit to Rome and the Vatican, where he is to meet Pope John Paul II tomorrow.

Missiles 'within lilmits'

Earlier, he dismissed suggestions that Baghdad's rocket programme is in breach of UN resolutions.

'We are still within limits that are decided by the United Nations,' he told reporters as he arrived in Italy.