US demands massive increase in weapons inspectors

The United Nations is under increasing pressure to intensify weapons inspections in Iraq as Britain and the United States continued to build up the heat on Saddam Hussein.

As America launched its biggest desert manoeuvres in Kuwait since the Gulf War, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice called on the UN to more than double its number of inspectors scouring the buildings of Iraq.

She wants to see between 250 and 300 inspectors operating in the Middle East nation compared with just over 100 currently there.

The White House call comes two days after chief weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix urged Britain and America to hand over any secret intelligence that could point to evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

Both nations have promised to provide whatever is necessary to uncover any of Saddam's remaining nuclear, biological and chemical programmes.