France calls for restraint on Iraq

The warheads are being examined by experts

French President Jacques Chirac has delivered a blunt warning against any unilateral action on Iraq, saying it would contravene international law.

The entire nation will rise to defend its right in life, and to defend its role and sacred places

Saddam Hussein

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UN weapons inspectors must be given the necessary time to complete their work in Iraq, Mr Chirac said after talks in Paris with the UN's chief inspector, Hans Blix.

Russia, for its part, warned against jumping to conclusions over the discovery of 11 empty warheads which inspectors said were designed to carry chemical weapons.

But the United States said it was "troubling and serious".

In Baghdad, Saddam Hussein marked the 12th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War with a defiant speech in which he warned that US-led forces faced certain death if they attacked Iraq.

America had failed to conquer Iraq last time, he said, and had proved itself incapable of learning from past mistakes.

Explanation demanded

Our correspondent in Baghdad says Saddam Hussein's speech had a clear message for the outside world: that he has no intention of leaving Iraq for exile, as some media reports have suggested.

Saddam Hussein made no reference to the 11 warheads found on Thursday at the Ukhaider military storage facility.

Only the Security Council can assess the reports and requests of the inspectors

French President Jacques Chirac

The warheads are being tested to determine if they ever contained banned chemicals - Baghdad says they are merely empty rockets that have expired.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the discovery of the warheads proved that inspections were working.

Mr Blix has said he wants more explanations from the Iraqis about the warheads.

Speaking in Paris, he said it was too early to know if they were listed in the declaration presented by Baghdad last month, as the Iraqis have claimed.

Click here for information on the chemical warheads

US President George W Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said: "The fact that Iraq is in possession of undeclared chemical warheads, which the United Nations says are in excellent condition, is troubling and serious.

He added it had become "increasingly clear" that Iraq was not disarming.

Call for co-operation

Mr Blix said the situation was very tense and that inspectors needed more "sincere and pro-active co-operation from the Iraqi side".

His calls were echoed by President Chirac, who urged Baghdad to give clear signs that it is co-operating with the weapons inspectors.

At the same time, Mr Chirac warned that any decision to take military action had to be made by the Security Council as a whole.

The US has been dismissive of the inspectors' ability to find any banned weapons in Iraq and wants a decision on whether to go to war soon.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason says America's accelerating military build-up in and around the Gulf creates its own near-inevitability.

Turkey - which is under pressure to allow the US to use its bases - said on Friday that its support for a US-led operation would be limited.

Ankara did not spell out what its contribution might be, but said there was no commitment to allow the US to use its facilities.

Cautious response

Mr Blix and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, are due to hold talks with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair later in the day.

Arriving in London, Mr Blix said the warheads discovery was "evidently not very good," but said it was "not a very big quantity".

In London, Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said the British Government was in "no rush to judgment" over the find.

KEY DATES

19 Jan - Blix meets top Iraqi officials in Baghdad

27 Jan - First full report on inspections presented to UN

29 Jan - UN discusses report

31 Jan - Bush meets Blair

15 Feb - Anti-war protests across Europe

27 Mar - Blix submits new report to UN

Next steps in full

The BBC's Peter Biles says that, despite growing impatience from some members of the Bush administration, Mr Blair is likely to agree with Mr Blix that inspectors need more time to complete their work.

After the meetings in Europe, Mr Blix will fly out to Baghdad to meet up with his inspection team, before giving a preliminary report to the UN Security Council in New York on 27 January.

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