UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticised US President George W Bush's "pre-emptive" attack on Iraq but urged world leaders yesterday to set aside their disputes over the war and join forces to build a peaceful democracy in the troubled nation.

THE Bush administration yesterday struggled with the question of whether it should send peacekeepers to Liberia, an idea opposed by a US military already stretched thin with other commitments around the world.

COALITION forces have taken custody of the Iraqi scientist known as ‘Dr Germ’ for her work in creating weapons-grade anthrax, according to Pentagon officials, who said they also had initial field reports that the head of Saddam Hussein’s military has been captured.

TAKING the law into their own hands, Baghdad residents blockaded streets and beat up looters yesterday as the US said the military does not intend to act as a police force.

THE commander of the US-led war in Iraq denied yesterday that he had asked the Pentagon for more troops before invading the country but sidestepped a question about whether the war might last into the summer.

HUNDREDS of Iraqi police and security agents searched for a possibly downed coalition pilot yesterday, shooting into the reeds alongside Baghdad’s Tigris River.

US Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld warned wary Europeans today that delaying preparations for war in Iraq could make that war more likely while undermining both the Nato alliance and the United Nations.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin signalled a possible policy change in Russia’s position on war with Iraq yesterday.

Five cargo ships carrying military supplies for United States troops in the Gulf entered the Suez Canal today on their way to join the American build-up for a possible war on Iraq, marine officials said.

IRAQI exiles who want to help the US military in its campaign against Saddam Hussein will report for training this week, defence officials said.

IRAQ’S vice president yesterday said there would be limits on the UN weapons investigation, though the top inspector says Baghdad has agreed to unannounced checks even on Saddam Hussein's “special” sites.

A US Air Force plane carrying 20 prisoners from Afghanistan has touched down in Cuba.

President George W Bush pledges to dismantle Osama bin Laden's terrorist network piece by piece.

B-52 bombers have pounded a Taliban field headquarters in wave after wave of strikes.

US military officials say an airdrop of food on Afghanistan has been successful.

United States Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld will travel to the Middle East for talks with political and military leaders in the region, spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said today.

US Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld has said the new war on terrorism will be long and not start with a massive offensive.

Iraq’s pursuit of chemical and biological weapons threatens to become a serious problem, US Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said.

The US is looking into developing a space bomber which could hit targets anywhere in the world in 30 minutes.

A spy plane has flown the first United States reconnaissance mission off China's coast since a mid-air collision between a US plane and a Chinese jet.

Military officials were today being briefed by a team of American technicians who have inspected a downed US Navy spy plane in China, a spokesman for the US Pacific Command said.

The Pentagon has said that future contacts with the Chinese military were under review, but it withdrew a directive from US Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld to suspend all contacts.