Russia’s President Vladimir Putin today met with visiting US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to confer over bilateral ties, Iraq and the Middle East, the Kremlin said.

A former top official of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard, and cousin of the deposed leader, surrendered to coalition forces in Baghdad today, the US military said.

After eight weeks of diplomatic wrangling, the United States is confident of winning UN approval today to finally force Saddam Hussein to disarm or face “serious consequences” that would almost certainly mean war.