Russia and France - both permanent members of the Security Council - could block President George W Bush's proposed resolution. China, the fifth permanent member, also opposes the US-UK line on Iraq.

But a senior US official quoted by Reuters news agency on Friday said Washington was working with Britain and France to reach a compromise on Iraq.

"We still want one resolution but we're exploring with the British and the French ways of bridging the difference between the resolution that we want and the two the French want," the official said.

France wants two resolutions - one defining the inspectors' mission and a second, if needed, detailing the action to be taken if Iraq fails to comply.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says the White House is not keen to compromise at the UN, but the State Department, which has to do the arm-twisting, seems to think the French two-step proposal would be acceptable.

Blix meetings

Mr Blix was meeting US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on Friday to discuss the latest Iraq developments.

US Defense Department spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said "yes" when asked by reporters on Friday if Baghdad had recently moved to conceal weapons programmes. She declined to elaborate further.

President Bush is to deliver a televised speech on Iraq on Monday.

Meanwhile, bombing in Iraq's no-fly zones has continued, with a strike on an air defence command centre on Thursday in retaliation for an attempt by the Iraqi military to shoot down US and UK planes dropping leaflets warning Iraqi gunners not to fire on planes patrolling the zones.