Michel Minnig of the International Red Cross in Baghdad: "We have no knowledge of military wounded"

A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross told the BBC that the first independent count of civilian casualties amounted to some 200 wounded in Baghdad.

There are still no reports from elsewhere in the country although there are suggestions that the number could run into many dozens.

The BBC's Peter Biles: "UN policy towards Iraq is far from clear"

Organisations including the UN and the Red Cross have despatched staff across the country to assess how aid programmes have been affected.

The BBC's correspondent in Baghdad says aid workers are now trying to make up for lost time distributing vital food and medicines to the Iraqi people.

Christmas message

The Iraqi Government, meanwhile, remains defiant.

Saddam Hussein is still firmly in power

In a Christmas message, President Saddam Hussein accused Britain and America of continuing their "criminal aggression" against Iraq.

The Iraqi leader said the coalition action was contrary to the principles of Jesus and of Islam: "Thus, it has become clear to us all, the believers in God and his prophets ... that the rulers of America and Britain, along with Zionism, that they are the enemies of God."

He said the strikes were targeted "not only against the dignified people of Iraq but also against humanity and mankind at large".

US warning

His comments come the day after senior US officials warned they could renew attacks on Iraq at any time.

US forces retain a heavy presence in the Gulf

President Clinton's National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, said the US was under an obligation to strike again if Saddam Hussein continued making weapons of mass destruction. And he said the US was prepared to work more closely with the Iraqi opposition to overthrow the Iraqi president.

But Russia, which heavily criticised the strikes, said the continued threats by the US and Britain were a very dangerous development.

Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said they were bypassing the UN and resorting to strong-arm methods.

Security Council divided

Paul Reynolds on Sandy Berger's speech outlining US proposals

The Russian ambassador to the United States, Yuli Vorontsov, has now returned to Washington following his recall to Moscow last week in protest at the strikes on Iraq.

But he said his return did not mean that Russia had retracted its criticism of the military action.