US ignores UN weapons report paving way for war in Iraq

THE United States moved closer to a military showdown with Saddam Hussein last night by insisting it knows “for a fact” that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

Washington's stance clashed with chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, who yesterday told the Security Council that his teams had so far found no “smoking guns” in Iraq.

However, Mr Blix added Baghdad had failed to answer “many questions” about its weapons programmes.