US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not ready to conclude that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction before US troops invaded to depose him last year.

FORMER UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix believes that Iraq destroyed most of its weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago, but kept up the appearance that it had them to deter a military attack.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair last night faced calls to sack the Downing Street spokesman who suggested Dr David Kelly may have been a “Walter Mitty” character.

The US government stood accused today of misrepresenting intelligence information to justify the war with Iraq.

Chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix today expressed his disappointment at the decision to go to war when his teams had not completed their work of eliminating Iraq’s illicit weapons programmes.

Moderate opinion across Europe is still firmly opposed to war against Iraq, a leading Euro-MP said tonight.

Tony Blair's hopes of a United Nations mandate for war appeared slimmer than ever tonight after the French, Russians and Germans said they would not let it pass and the chief weapons inspector claimed there had been "proactive" cooperation by the Iraqis.

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

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

Iraq has stepped up efforts to clarify outstanding issues about its weapons programmes but there is still no evidence that Saddam Hussein has decided to disarm, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said tonight.

BONO has been nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, it emerged yesterday.

International missile experts found that an Iraqi missile exceeded the maximum 93-mile range allowed under United Nations resolutions, US and Russian officials have said.

International experts will today try to determine whether two Iraqi missile programmes violate UN resolutions.

Tony Blair and George Bush today stood united in a pledge to disarm Saddam Hussein “in a matter of weeks, not months”.

Tony Blair and US President George Bush tonight united in a pledge to disarm Saddam Hussein within weeks.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix is preparing to fly to Baghdad to persuade Saddam Hussein to come clean about his weapons of mass destruction.

UN weapons inspectors say Iraq has violated sanctions by importing missile engines and raw material for the production of solid missile fuel.

Iraq’s weapons declaration contains ”inconsistencies” and leaves many questions unanswered, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council today.

INTERNATIONAL inspectors arrived at one of Saddam Hussein’s presidential palaces yesterday and demanded and received quick entry, in an early test of new powers to hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

With the world watching, a team of United Nations arms inspectors was leaving for Baghdad today to again take up the hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, amid complaints by the Iraqi government that the mission could give America a pretext for war.

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.

UN inspectors have indicated they will not resume their search for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction until the Security Council decides whether to adopt a new resolution that could give them broad new powers.

By playing for time, Iraq may be attempting to make it harder for Washington to make the case for a military invasion.