‘Saddam not serious on disarming’

US PRESIDENT George W Bush said last night that Iraq’s weapons declaration showed Saddam Hussein was not serious about disarmament and marked “a disappointing day for those who long for peace.”

"We expected him to show that he would disarm and ... it's a long way from there," the president said.

Mr Bush has given the go-ahead to double the 50,000 US troop deployment in the Persian Gulf region in early January, a senior administration official said.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to sign the formal deployment order in the next week or two as part of what another official called "a ramping up on various fronts".

Mr Bush, meeting with United Nations, European Union and Russian diplomats, said he will work with America's friends to enforce the UN Security Council resolution demanding that Saddam give up his weapons voluntarily or else be forced to do so by US-led military force.

Asked whether the United States and Iraq were now on a path toward war, Mr Bush replied: "Yesterday's document was not encouraging."

"The world spoke clearly that we expect Mr Saddam Hussein to disarm," Mr Bush said.

He addressed the Iraqi crisis, which White House spokesman Ari Fleischer described as "deepening," at the opening of talks focused on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Bush will spend the next five or six weeks in pursuit of more evidence against Saddam while massing troops outside Iraq for a potential winter assault, these officials said on condition of anonymity.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix complained to the BBC that the United States and Britain have not given inspectors the support they need chiefly, intelligence on where Iraqis are allegedly hiding their weapons materiel.

In response, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer pointed last night to Mr Powell's promise that the United States will provide additional intelligence to make the inspectors' hunt "more targeted and effective."

The United States will continue to analyse Saddam's self-inventory but has so far concluded that its omissions constitute a "material breach" of the UN resolution compelling Iraq to disclose its deadly weapons, Mr Powell said. Although the term "material breach" is widely interpreted as a prelude to war, Mr Powell said there is no "calendar deadline" to disarm Iraq by force.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday put Britain's armed forces on a war footing, telling them to make all the preparations necessary for a conflict with Iraq.

In his Christmas message to the armed services, Mr Blair apologised for the continuing uncertainty over military action.