US steps up bombing missions
The United States has deployed a long-range bomber over Iraq's southern no-fly zone as President George W Bush prepares for emergency talks with his allies.
The BBC's Pentagon correspondent says the use of the B-1B Lancer to attack two targets south of Baghdad for the first time since 1998 is another sign of US forces gearing up for war.
Mr Bush will meet the British and Spanish prime ministers on Sunday amid diplomatic deadlock at the United Nations over US-led plans to disarm Iraq.
At the UN itself, weapons inspectors said they had received a 25-page letter from Baghdad claiming to account for alleged missing chemical weapons agents.
Officials said they would study the letter, written partly in English and partly in Arabic, which is said to explain how Iraq has destroyed its stocks of the highly toxic VX nerve agent.
Meanwhile, another weekend of anti-war protests is planned, with rallies expected in many cities, including the US and Spanish capitals.
Radar targeted
Our Pentagon correspondent, Nick Childs, says US defence officials are trying to play down the new deployment of the B1-B Lancer bombers.
B-1 BOMBER
Supersonic speed
Each costs $200m
Can carry 24 satellite-guided bombs
Click here for B1-B fact file
But he says their use is significant nonetheless, and the planes would be expected to play an important role in the opening stages of any war.
The Lancer bombed two radar sites in western Iraq, US officials said. Our correspondent says that area has been a particular focus of air strikes recently, as it is from there that hidden Scud missiles could be fired at Israel.
A number of B1-Bs have been deployed to the Gulf as part of the military build-up.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Bush administration was "still committed to diplomacy" and Sunday's meeting was aimed at a "final pursuit" of a UN resolution.
Mr Bush will hold talks with Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar in the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The summit will be hosted by Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
US National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said the aim would be to reach a conclusion on how to tell Saddam "it is time for you to disarm or be disarmed".
Deal unlikely
Mr Bush is preparing for the summit at the Camp David presidential retreat but a BBC correspondent in Washington, Justin Webb, says there is little hope of new peace plans.
He says the only realistic compromise would be an extension of Monday's deadline for Saddam Hussein to convince the world he is disarming.
We must recognise that some threats are so grave - and their potential consequences so terrible - that they must be removed, even if it requires military force
President George W Bush
Confusion reigns at UN
Q&A: Iraq crisis
But, as France has said it will veto any resolution presented to the Security Council that involves a trigger for war, the view in Washington is that the three leaders meeting in the Azores will simply withdraw it.
They could then base their case for war on existing UN demands, our correspondent adds.
On Friday, Mr Bush invited survivors of a chemical attack by Saddam on Kurds in the north of Iraq 15 years ago to meet him in the Oval Office.
"We must recognise that some threats are so grave - and their potential consequences so terrible - that they must be removed, even if it requires military force," Mr Bush said.
Presidential aides are preparing an address to the nation which could be delivered as early as Monday, if Mr Bush decides to shift to a war footing.
news.bbc.co.uk |
