Iraq, threatening a "fierce war" if attacked, rejected this evening a draft US-proposed Security Council resolution requiring Baghdad to comply with tough new arms inspection rules or face military action.
Iraq's defiant rejection came amid a US and British diplomatic campaign to persuade other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - France, Russia and China - to overcome grave concerns and back the proposal designed to rid Iraq of any nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
Vice-president Mr Taha Yassin Ramadan said Iraq would not accept extra measures contained in the draft resolution, which gives Iraq one week to accept demands to disarm and 30 days to declare all its weapons of mass destruction programmes.
"The stance from the inspectors has been decided and any additional procedure that aims at harming Iraq won't be accepted," Mr Ramadan told reporters.
Deputy prime minister Mr Tareq Aziz warned that the US would sustain huge losses if it attacked Iraq and that his country would fight a "fierce war".
US President George W. Bush, whose avowed policy of "regime change" in Iraq means toppling President Saddam Hussein, has pledged to act without U.N. approval if necessary, and today urged action before it was "too late".