IRAQ has claimed US and British warplanes killed six civilians and wounded another 15 in raids on Basra yesterday, but Washington said the jets struck military targets after coming under anti-aircraft fire.

ISLAMIC leaders will gather in Qatar tomorrow Wednesday for an emergency summit in yet another 11th-hour bid by a regional organisation to convince the US to forgo plans to invade and occupy Iraq.

There were indications from Baghdad tonight that Saddam Hussein is prepared to obey UN instructions and destroy his al Samoud missiles.

IRAQ has withheld a decision on a United Nations order to start destroying its Al Samoud 2 missile programme by the end of the week, but said yesterday that it is “serious about solving this”.

Iraq has allowed another flight by a US U-2 spy plane as President Saddam Hussein’s government sought to convince the world that it is co-operating with UN weapons inspectors.

WITH almost 200,000 US and British troops massed around it, the government of Saddam Hussein prepared Iraqis for war yesterday, equipping families with extra food and inviting citizens to help “inflict defeat on the evil aggressors.”

SADDAM HUSSEIN banned nuclear, chemical and biological weapons yesterday, meeting a long-time UN demand even as top weapons inspectors told the Security Council they have found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Iraq has shot down an unmanned US aircraft that flew over from Kuwait, the official Iraqi News Agency said today.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday delivered a series of warnings to Saddam Hussein as he confidently predicted the British public would back military action against Iraq if he failed to surrender his weapons of mass destruction.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has boasted that he is not losing any sleep over the American war machine gearing up around him.

Iraq severely criticised the UN Security Council today for adopting a US-backed resolution that tightens controls on imports to the country.

Iraq has complained to the United Nations after a US air strike in the south of the country that it claims killed three people and injured 16.

US and British warplanes have attacked a ”civilian and services installation” in northern Iraq, killing one civilian, the official Iraqi News Agency claimed.

US and British warplanes attacked a ”civilian and services installation” in northern Iraq today, killing one civilian, the official Iraqi News Agency claimed.

United Nations inspectors were getting down to work today after their four-year absence, meeting Iraqi officials and making plans to once again start searching for hidden chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.

UN inspectors met Iraqi officials yesterday as they prepared to resume the search for weapons of mass destruction, a mission that could determine whether the Mideast is plunged into a new war.

A US-British airstrike in southern Iraq on Friday killed seven civilians and wounded four others, the Iraqi military said.

Iraq today brushed aside the growing threat of US military action to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

THE White House last night quickly shot down an Iraqi offer to let members of Congress tour suspected biological, chemical and nuclear weapons sites.

Two new books - rumoured to have been penned by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein - will hit the shelves later this year, the official Iraqi News Agency has reported.

Saddam Hussein says his country opposes any US attack on Iran.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his senior aides discussed a general mobilisation of the country to face the prospect of a US strike, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

Iraq says it isn't afraid of US threats and is ready to defend itself against any attack.

Iraq claims it has shot down an unmanned US spy plane over its southern no-fly zone.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has refused to officially send his condolences to the US administration following the September 11 terrorist attacks, it emerged today.

A US Air Force unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has failed to return from a mission over southern Iraq and may have been shot down.

A US-British airstrike on a football field in northern Iraq has killed 11 people and injured 11, Iraqi authorities have claimed.

The Iraqi government says US and British warplanes have bombed targets in southern Iraq, causing no casualties.

An explosion at a bus station has killed two people and wounded several others in central Baghdad.

Iraq has threatened to retaliate after last night's US-British air strikes.

Iraq's state-run media has named two people as victims of the largest attack by US and British warplanes in two years.

Saddam Hussein is to make a television appearance following reports that he has suffered a stroke.

Saddam Hussein wants to donate £64m to poor Americans - on the condition that an Iraqi committee supervises how the money is spent.