British diplomats say they intend to introduce another resolution strongly condemning Iraq.

Richard Downes: Iraq is not backing down

British officials say the purpose of such a move - which could take some days - is to keep the diplomatic pressure on Iraq and to maintain council unity.

UN Correspondent Rob Watson says the a resolution would essentially be repeating the council's demand at the weekend for Iraq to back down and would stop short of threatening force.

Even those countries sympathetic to Iraq, such as Russia and France, have voiced strong disapproval of Baghdad's decision.

But they do not support military action against Iraq and our correspondent says they are unlikely to do so in the future.

Iraq suspended the work of UN inspectors on Saturday after the Security Council decided to review its compliance with UN resolutions - but without any guarantee that this would lead to sanctions being lifted.

The inspectors are trying to establish whether Baghdad has a stockpile of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Clinton seeks allies' support

Meanwhile, the American Defence Secretary, William Cohen, has had talks in Saudi Arabia with King Fahd about the latest crisis with Iraq.

President Bill Clinton warned Baghdad that no options were being ruled out until the inspectors returned to work.

"Saddam Hussein's latest refusal to co-operate with the international weapons inspectors is completely unacceptable," he said.

"Once again, though, it will backfire. His obstructionism was immediately and unanimously condemned by United Nations Security Council. It has only served to deepen the international community's resolve."

Iraq demands the sacking of Unscom chief Richard Butler

President Clinton's warning was echoed by the UK Defence Secretary, George Robertson, who also indicated that military action could be a possibility.

The UN's Chief Weapons Inspector, Richard Butler, said the situation appeared to be the most serious confrontation between Iraq and the UN since the end of the Gulf War.

He said Iraq had "moved on from attempting to stop our disarmament work to making an attack on the monitoring system - the long term system that would see that they don't reconstitute these weapons once they have been disarmed."

Iraq demands end to sanctions

On Monday, the Iraqi parliament endorsed the decision, made at the weekend by the Iraqi leadership, not to co-operate with the inspectors.

Tariq Aziz: "Working with Unscom is bitter, and it's too expensive"

The Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, said that Iraq would settle for nothing less than a removal of the sanctions that have strangled its economy and the sacking of Mr Butler.

Nuclear monitors remain, but their activities are restricted

"If the Security Council shows seriousness about lifting sanctions there will be a resumption of co-operation," he said.

However, Reports from Baghdad say technical staff from the UN special commission on disarming Iraq (Unscom) were allowed onto suspected weapons sites on Monday to maintain monitoring equipment.