The United States announced it was virtually doubling its military strength in the Gulf as President George W. Bush said Iraq's weapons declaration was "not encouraging" for those seeking to avoid conflict.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also urged troops to be ready for war as world powers braced for weeks and possibly months of wrangling at the United Nations over the best way to disarm Iraq.

The United States and Britain have declared Iraq in "material breach" of its United Nations obligations because of omissions in its weapons declaration. The two are leading preparations for a possible war which have sent oil and gold prices to new highs.

Another 50,000 US troops and additional military equipment will be sent to the Gulf by early January, a US defense official said. There are now about 65,000 US military personnel in the region, including 15,000 in Kuwait on the border with Iraq.

The deployment will include tens of thousands of reservists and give Bush the option to start combat operations against Iraq in late January or early February, said the official, who emphasized that it was for Bush to decide if and when conflict will be started.

Bush, who on Friday postponed a planned trip to Africa in January, said Iraq has failed "those who long for peace" with its arms report.

"We're serious about keeping the peace, we're serious about working with our friends in the United Nations" to disarm Iraq, said Bush. Iraq's weapons declaration to the United Nations was "not encouraging," he added a day after the United States declared Iraq in "material breach" of UN disarmament demands because of omissions in the report.

Thursday "was a disappointing day for those who long for peace," said Bush, who has vowed to lead a coalition to end Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

The White House said Bush had called off his planned trip to Africa "due to a combination of domestic and international considerations". The visit was to have been from January 10-17.

Bush's strongest coalition ally, Britain, also appears to be moving closer to a conflict, that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted Thursday is not yet inevitable.

Prime Minister Blair said in a message to the military: "The key thing at the moment is to make all the preparations necessary, and to make sure that we are building up the capacity in the region."

"At the moment we simply don't know whether the (UN weapons) inspectors will find the breach or not," Blair said.

"We will be prepared to use force in order to ensure that they (the Iraqi regime) are disarmed of all chemical, biological and potentially nuclear weapons," he said.

The Times newspaper of London said Britain would seek UN approval for war on Iraq in a second resolution at the end of January if arms inspections showed Saddam was in breach of UN Security Council resolution 1441.

Following the first evaluation of the 12,000 page Iraqi declaration to the security council on Thursday by the main UN weapons inspectors, the US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq was in "material breach" of its commitments, but other key nations urged caution about moving toward conflict.

Russia does not consider that Iraq has breached the UN disarmament resolution, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in Washington.

The inspectors' report "is very comprehensive, but it does not contain alarming definitions that could be interpreted as a violation of the UN Security Council resolution by that country," Ivanov said told Russian journalists in the US capital where he is taking part in talks on the Middle East.

"We cannot say that Russia is or is not satisfied with the report. We have simply taken it into consideration," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

China's Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, whose country is one of the five permanent Security Council members with veto power -- along with Britain, France, Russia and the United States -- meanwhile urged the international community not to make any hasty decisions.

Tang said Chinese experts were still assessing Iraq's weapons declaration but had not reached a conclusion on its contents.

"At the present time there is no need to hastily pass verdict on the Iraqi report," he said.

At the security council on Thursday, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said the world cannot be sure Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction but also said that he could not "disprove" Iraqi claims to have destroyed all prohibited weaponry.

Blix complained on Friday that the United States and Britain were not providing enough intelligence to inspectors about sites in Iraq where they claim Baghdad is hiding weapons of mass destruction.

The United States responded by saying that it will keep sharing intelligence with UN weapons inspectors in Iraq but will not provide secrets that risk "drying up" its sources for future data.

Iraq meanwhile urged the United Nations to stand up to US and British "deceit".

Iraq's ruling Baath Party daily Ath-Thawra said the other "members of the UN Security Council ... should shoulder their legal and moral responsibilities and take a responsible stance against the injustice, the aggressions and threats aimed at Iraq."

"The issue is not weapons of mass destruction or the return of the (UN weapons) inspections ... it is finding a pretext to attack Iraq," it said.

© Copyright 2002 AFP

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