Russia challenges US over bid for UN support

THE United States faced yet another challenge yesterday, this time from Russia, over its bid to get the United Nations behind a plan to disarm Iraq.

Washington has met a wall of opposition for threatening to attack Iraq with or without UN support and for seeking a "regime change" in Baghdad. It says Iraq has amassed an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and threatens world security, a charge Baghdad denies.

Hoping to break a month-long deadlock, the US on Monday gave its four veto-wielding Security Council colleagues a draft resolution which was due to be discussed yesterday.