The United States will delay any attack on Iraq until after the Congressional elections in November, it emerged today.
US officials have ruled out a sudden October invasion aimed at ousting Saddam Hussein to allow Congress to debate the plans.
The Pentagon had earlier estimated that it would not be ready to take on Iraq's 375,000-man army until early next year.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Mr Joseph Biden, who is close to senior Bush administration officials, said no Iraq invasion is imminent.
"There's not likely to be anything before November, and I think they're trying to get their act together on what to do afterwards," he told USA Today.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday warned that air power alone would not be enough to destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
He said Saddam Hussein now has mobile biological weapons laboratories and weapons sites buried underground that would be extremely difficult to bomb.
US President George W Bush has made clear his desire to remove the Iraqi dictator by military force if necessary, but has said there is currently no clear plan in place.
American military documents revealed last month outlined proposals for an invasion that included tens of thousands of troops in a massive land, air and naval force attack.
Other blueprints leaked to the press include a sudden attack without the lengthy build-up that preceded the 1991 Gulf War, or using small commando units to quickly sever Saddam's control over chemical and biological weapons.
Meanwhile, the United States' closest allies are urging Mr Bush against early military action to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The warnings from key European and Middle East allies - except Britain. The leaders of France and Germany cautioned yesterday that they could not support a US assault on Iraq - home to the world's second biggest oil reserves - without a UN mandate, which US and British officials argue is not legally necessary.
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, whose country would be a vital base for any US strike on Iraq, said earlier he was trying to dissuade Washington from a military operation.
And Jordan's King Abdullah, due to meet Mr Bush today, told a British newspaper this week: "In the light of the failure to move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward, military action against Iraq would really open Pandora's box."
Agencies