Rumsfeld denies Iraq disarming

Rumsfeld denies Iraq disarming

Mr Rumsfeld insisted the US was not acting alone

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told the BBC that Iraq is not disarming properly, saying that the regime of Saddam Hussein is skilled in deceiving UN weapons inspectors.

But he also rejected the idea that the United States was acting unilaterally over the issue.

Also, US Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed optimism about winning a new vote in the UN Security Council on forcibly disarming Iraq.

However just before Mr Powell's comments, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the BBC that Moscow had still not ruled out using its Security Council veto to block UN support for an invasion.

The frantic diplomatic manoeuvring comes just ahead of UN chief weapon inspector Hans Blix's latest report to the Security Council on Iraqi disarmament, due on Friday.

A new resolution calling for action against Iraq, co-sponsored by the US, UK and Spain, is expected to be submitted for a Security Council vote the following week.

US scepticism

Mr Rumsfeld - seen as one of the leading hawks of the Bush administration - told the BBC's David Dimbleby that he was unconvinced by Saddam Hussein's seeming moves to disarm.

"Every single thing that he does, that anyone could cite is co-operative, was after some long period of denying, of refusal to do it, and ultimately a willingness to do part of it," he said.

If the situation demands, Russia will of course use its right of veto

Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov

And he warned that Iraq's scrapping of its al-Samoud missiles and other concessions did not mean it was not still developing other weapons away from the UN inspectors' gaze.

"I think the way to think about that is that there were inspectors there before, and he continued with his weapons of mass destruction programmes," Mr Rumsfeld said.

But he was at pains to reject accusations that Washington was pushing ahead alone.

"There will be more countries, with or without a second UN resolution, involved in a coalition of the willing, if force has to be used, than there were in the 1991 Gulf War, in my judgement," he said.

The United Nations is reported to have already drawn up secret plans for governing Iraq if Saddam Hussein is deposed.

The Times newspaper in London said that the plan, of which it had seen a copy, involved the UN taking over the administration of Iraq around three months after an invasion, and guiding the country towards self-government.

This would happen whether or not the US won approval for its invasion, the paper said.

According to Secretary of State Powell, a Security Council vote might yet be won.

"I am increasingly optimistic that if it comes to a vote, we will be able to make a case that will persuade most of the members of the Security Council to vote for the resolution," he told French television station France 2.

Russian warning

Of Security Council members, the US, UK, Spain and Bulgaria have spoken in favour of the resolution, but face opposition from France, Russia, China, Germany and Syria - the first three of which have veto power.

Foreign Minister Ivanov refused to rule out Russia's use of its veto.

"If the situation demands, Russia will of course use its right of veto," he told BBC Talking Point live.

Russia has called for continued inspections

However, analysts say Moscow is unlikely in practice to do anything that would ruin the new warmth of its relationship with the US.

As the argument rages, the US has been steadily pressing ahead with preparations for a possible invasion.

On Monday US officials confirmed that a further 60,000 troops were being ordered to the Gulf.

However Washington's plans of using Turkey as a springboard into neighbouring northern Iraq remain in the balance amid political deadlock in Ankara.

The Turkish Government has hinted that a bill approving the deployment of US troops in Turkey, narrowly rejected by parliament on Sunday, might not now be re-submitted for three weeks.

In other developments:

• Spain's parliament backs Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's tough line on Iraq

• UN Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomes Iraq's destruction of al-Samoud missiles and says the diplomatic process should be given more time

• Iran calls for a UN-supervised election in Iraq to effect a power transition

• Saddam Hussein urges Iraqis to remain faithful and says "the believers" will beat the armies of President Bush, whom he called a "tyrant" who thought he was God