Baghdad says US has put pressure on Blix

Iraq reacted with frustration and anger after the latest report by Hans Blix, the UN's chief weapons inspector, accused Baghdad of offering "very limited'' co-operation on disarmament.

Senior officials claimed Mr Blix was acting under pressure from the United States. A few days earlier he had described Iraqi co-operation as "substantive''.

Mr Blix's report, confirmed by UN sources, says: "Iraq could have made greater efforts to find any remaining proscribed items or provide credible evidence showing the absence of such items. The result, in terms of disarmament, has been very limited so far. The destruction of missiles, which is an important operation, has not yet begun."

A senior Iraqi foreign ministry official said: "Just two days ago Mr Blix was saying that we were being positive, and there were steps which need to be explored. So why this now? This is American pressure. We know that before he spoke to the United Nations last time he was called in by Condoleezza Rice [the US National Security Adviser]. He must be under constant pressure from the Americans who just want a war."

The mood in Baghdad is now one of total pessimism, and the government believes that the Blix report, to be presented today, is setting up the country for an attack.

There was further gloom at reports that Saudi Arabia will allow its air bases to be used for operations against Iraq, and Turkey will allow in more than 60,000 American troops.The Turkish government evacuated its Baghdad embassy yesterday and is believed to have closed its border with Kurdistan, in northern Iraq.