Iraq says a million volunteers will train for a holy war aginst UN sanctions

Iraq has declared a holy war Jihad against United Nations sanctions and says it expects one million men and women to volunteer for military training.

The vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, said there was no sign the Security Council would lift sanctions imposed seven years ago after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and he said the United States was determined to extend sanctions and expose the Iraqi people to death, starvation and illness.

The move has been dismissed by the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who said sanctions would remain until Iraq came clean on its weapons of mass destruction.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service