Iraq was waking up to a future free of Saddam Hussein today while US forces continued to tighten their grip on the capital Baghdad.

AS thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to celebrate the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States was already sabre rattling in the next phase of its war on so-called rogue nations.

Iraq’s UN Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri conceded defeat tonight: “The game is over,” he said in New York. “Let peace prevail.”

US ambassador John Negroponte walked out of a UN Security Council debate today after his Iraqi counterpart accused Washington of trying to exterminate Iraqi people.

Iraq has accused the United Nations Secretary General of helping the US-led attack on Iraq by withdrawing peacekeepers and weapons inspectors from their country.

Here are the latest developments in the Iraq crisis:

Saddam Hussein has placed Iraq on a war footing, placing his son and three trusted lieutenants in charge of four military regions to defend against a US-led invasion.

Men claiming to be US and British intelligence agents have harassed Iraqi diplomats in Bahrain, trying to frighten them into handing over information, an Iraqi diplomat has claimed.

Washington has asked 60 countries to expel alleged Iraqi agents, whom officials claim may be poised to attack US interests overseas.

IRAQ last night indicated it could suspend its missile destruction if the US presses ahead with its war plans.

United Nations weapons inspectors stepped up the destruction of banned missiles today, returning to a military compound to supervise the disposal of six Al Samoud 2 rockets, an Iraqi official said.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has ordered Iraq to destroy dozens of its missiles with ranges that violate UN limits, and gave Baghdad a March 1 deadline to begin the demolition.

The United Nations’ nuclear weapons expert, preparing to give a crucial report to the UN Security Council today, said inspections should continue for months because “we are moving forward”.

Key members of the UN Security Council say the United States has so far failed to convince them that time has run out for a peaceful resolution to the crisis with Iraq.

The UN chief weapons inspector told the Security Council today that Iraq has still not accepted the need to disarm – a statement that kept the White House firmly on the war path.

UN WEAPONS inspectors flexed their muscles yesterday, combing a complex housing Iraq’s own arms Monitoring Directorate and leaving two senior Iraqi officials trapped inside and fuming for hours.

IN the worst case, a war with Iraq could cost the United States almost as much as the government spent in the last budget year — nearly $2 trillion, according to new projections.

American officials are to check Iraq’s report on its weapons programmers against US intelligence information that suggests Saddam Hussein has hundreds of tons of chemical weapons, the ability to produce biological weapons and an active nuclear weapons programmed.

INTERNATIONAL arms monitors searched a military missile testing range and a possible nuclear site outside Baghdad yesterday, kicking off a round of inspections that could determine the future of the Middle East.

Saying it wanted to save the Iraqi people from a new war, Saddam Hussein’s government accepted a tough new United Nations resolution and the return of international weapons inspectors, but called the terms unjust and illegal.

BIDDING to head off an attack by the US, Saddam Hussein yesterday accepted unconditionally a tough new UN resolution that will see weapons inspectors return to the country for the first time in nearly four years.

Iraq has accepted a tough new UN resolution that will return weapons inspectors to the country after nearly four years.

Iraq has accepted a tough new UN resolution that will return weapons inspectors to the country after nearly four years, an Arab diplomat said today.

SADDAM HUSSEIN was left friendless in the UN last night after the Security Council unanimously approved a tough new resolution aimed at forcing the Iraqi dictator to disarm or face “serious consequences” that would almost certainly mean war.

The United States has backed down from its demand that a new UN resolution must authorise military force if Iraq fails to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors, Western diplomats said tonight.

US President George W Bush’s speech to the general assembly amounted to a challenge to the United Nations to live up to its responsibility.

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

Iraq has accepted the terms of a new UN Security Council resolution and will resume oil exports.