US President George W. Bush said today he was not encouraged by Iraq's reaction so far to UN disarmament demands and challenged Baghdad to provide a "credible and complete" list of its weapons by the Sunday deadline.
"Any act of delay, deception or defiance will prove that Saddam Hussein has not adopted the path of compliance, and has rejected the path of peace," Mr Bush said in a speech to military leaders at the Pentagon.
So far in five days of inspections, UN arms experts have found no evidence of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs that Washington says Iraq has. But the inspectors hit a snag earlier today with the discovery that some equipment was missing from a missile factory.
Mr Bush, at the Pentagon to sign a defence bill providing extra billions for the war on terrorism, was reluctant to declare the first UN inspections a success.
He said Washington will be looking to determine whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has changed his behavior and decided to cooperate willingly.
"So far the signs are not encouraging," said Mr Bush, citing Iraq's firing on US and British planes enforcing "no-fly" zones and letters he said were "filled with protests and falsehoods" sent by Baghdad to the United Nations.
These, he said, were signs that Iraq was "not taking the path of compliance."
Iraq has pledged full co-operation with the inspectors, who returned to Iraq last week to search for chemical, biological and nuclear arms under a tough UN resolution that gives Baghdad one last chance to disarm.
Bush has threatened to lead a "coalition of the willing" to disarm Iraq if Baghdad fails to give up weapons programs that Washington says Saddam possesses.
The Sunday deadline for Saddam to give the United Nations a list of his weapons programs could well determine whether Mr Bush marches on toward a possible military attack against Iraq.