Iraq and the United States continued on their course to war
yesterday as Iraq dismissed hopes that it would allow
United Nations weapons inspections and the US
reaffirmed the case for removing Saddam Hussein's
regime.

As world leaders urged the US to make a major push for
the UN to be allowed back into Iraq before deciding to go
to war, Iraq said there was no point in allowing weapons
inspections because an "insane, criminal" US
administration was determined to attack and oust
Saddam.

"What purpose would there be for a goodwill gesture or an
initiative for the return of spies?" the Iraqi Vice-President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, said in
Damascus, where he has been rallying Arab support for Iraq in its standoff with
Washington.

"The US Administration ... says day and night that the issue is not related to whether the
inspectors return or not, it has to do with changing the regime by force. This is an issue on
which we shouldn't waste our time."

At the same time, the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, repeated almost word for word the
arguments for swift military action that he first made on Monday and which caused
international alarm.

He said Saddam had gathered chemical and biological weapons and might acquire a
nuclear bomb "very soon".

"Armed with an arsenal of these weapons, sitting atop 10 per cent of the world's oil,
Saddam Hussein could then be expected to seek domination of the entire Middle East, to
take control of the world's energy supply, and to directly threaten America's friends."

The US meanwhile, sought to shore up congressional support for a campaign against Iraq,
as it tried to head off pressure from Britain and France to work through the UN before
taking any action against Saddam.

Mr Cheney, in a speech to Korean war veterans, sought to undercut the arguments of some
critics in Congress who have urged a return to UN inspections in Iraq. He said inspectors
in the past had failed to uncover evidence that Iraq was in fact continuing to produce deadly
chemical agents.

But elsewhere, President Jacques Chirac of France reiterated his demand that any military
action against Iraq be approved by the Security Council, and he criticised what he called
"attempts to legitimise the unilateral and pre-emptive use of force".

Mr Chirac's comments came as Muslim and European nations kept up pressure on
Washington to avert an attack on Iraq.

Islamic countries said an attack could unleash fresh turmoil by widening a gulf between
Muslims and the West.

The Pakistani leader, Pervez Musharraf - a vital US ally in its war on terror - said a strike
against Baghdad would have negative repercussions around the Islamic world.

"Muslims are feeling that they are on the receiving end everywhere. So there is a feeling of
alienation in the Muslim world and ... this will lead to further alienation," he told BBC radio.

Muslims around the world believed they were the main casualty of war on terrorism amid
rising anti-Islamic sentiment and a perceived Western bias against their faith, he said.