Final countdown as UN is set one last deadline

Tony Blair, George Bush and Jose Maria Aznar have set the United Nations and Saddam Hussein a final deadline.

Speaking at an emergency summit of the UK, US and Spanish leaders on the mid-Atlantic islands of the Azores, Mr Bush said tomorrow was a "moment of truth" for the world.

The President said Monday would be the last day for diplomatic efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein and the last day a US-backed resolution authorising war could be voted on at the UN Security Council.

Once diplomatic efforts have been exhausted, President Bush is likely to address the US people and give a final ultimatum to Saddam.

That could come tomorrow night, signalling the start of military action as early as Tuesday.

A consensus within the Security Council continued to look improbable as French President Jacques Chirac, who last week promised to veto any new resolution before the Security Council, today said he was willing to accept a 30-day deadline for Iraq to disarm - provided the move was endorsed by the chief UN weapons inspectors.

The offer looked unlikely to stop the imminent conflict as Mr Blair warned a situation where "we go back for endless discussions" would not be acceptable.

Mr Bush said: "Tomorrow is the day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work."

The president also spoke of post-conflict Iraq.

If military force was required, the leaders would seek new Security Council resolutions to help rebuild Iraq after conflict, he said.

France, Russia and Germany today called for a meeting of foreign ministers at the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

They called the meeting to discuss a "realistic" timetable for Saddam to disarm.

UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei are due to update the Security Council in New York tomorrow night on progress made on their work in Iraq.

Meanwhile, most of the helicopters used by UN inspectors in Iraq were flown out to Syria today en route to Cyprus after a Western insurance company suspended its cover for the aircraft, following fears of an imminent US-led invasion.

If an invasion comes with little warning, Dr Blix may not have time to get that authority and must make a snap decision to get his team clear before the bombing starts, Unmovic spokesman Ewen Buchanan said today.

"If there is a decision to use military action we would hope we would be given sufficient warning," he said.

"How much is sufficient I really don’t know - 24 hours would be nice, 48 hours would be even nicer. Clearly we need to have sufficient warning to get out in time."

Dr Blix is assessing the situation by the hour.

Saddam last night issued a decree dividing the country into four military districts under his command: northern Iraq, southern Iraq, central Iraq, and Baghdad and other areas to the north.

The Iraqi dictator’s move showed he expected the Azores summit would herald the onset of war.

Chancellor Gordon Brown today said Britain was satisfied there was legal basis for war under resolutions 678, 687 and 1441.

Mr Brown said: "I think you can take it that the Government would not be contemplating action if it did not have a legal basis for that action. The Government is satisfied that there is legal authority."

And Pope John Paul II made one his most fervent pleas yet in his campaign against the war.

He said: "The next days will be decisive for the outcome of the Iraq crisis," he said.

He invited the faithful to pray that "leaders on all sides be inspired with courage and long-range vision."

In Kuwait British military strategists at the anti-Saddam coalition nerve centre in Qatar today said that they are "ready to go".

British Territorial Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie McCourt, a former regular Army Major, who has been at the base a month, said: "We could have gone some time ago. The last bits of the jigsaw are fitting into place, those are very minor refinements."

In a further sign that war could be just hours away, Mr Blair is expected to call a last-minute meeting of his Cabinet tomorrow.