Iraq accuses Washington of extortion

Iraq has accused the US of "unprecedented extortion" by taking the only copy of Baghdad's arms declaration to the UN Security Council.

Saddam Hussein's spokesman claims Washington might alter the report as a cover for launching a military attack.

The US took the only copy of the document from the UN on Monday to make copies in Washington for distribution to the other four permanent members of the Security Council - Britain, France, Russia and China.

"This is unprecedented extortion in the history of the United Nations, when it (the US) forced the president of the Security Council to give it the original copy of Iraq's declaration in contradiction with the agreement by all members of Security Council," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry statement said "above all of this, this American behaviour aims to play with the United Nations' documents with the aim of finding a cover for aggression against Iraq."

Britain, France, Russia and China agreed to let the US handle the 12,000-page document because Colombia, which holds the presidency of the Security Council, was not able to copy it quickly enough in a secure location.