On the brink of war: UK gives Saddam 10-day deadline to avoid conflict

The countdown to war started yesterday with 17 March set as a final deadline for Iraq to reveal and surrender all of its weapons programmes or face military punishment.

In a passionate address to the UN Security Council, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, urged members to approve an Anglo-American resolution clearing the path to war in a vote on Tuesday. And in an attempt to win enough votes for the resolution, an amended version was circulated giving Iraq one last chance, until "on, or before 17 March", to change its stance and accept disarmament.

Mr Straw was speaking after Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, gave a mixed assessment of Iraqi compliance, giving ammunition to both sides in the polarised Security Council. He acknowledged that Iraq had failed to provide the "immediate" co-operation required under the terms of resolution 1441. Referring to the question of whether Iraq had co-operated "immediately, unconditionally and actively" as 1441 demands, Mr Blix said: "The answers can be seen from the factual descriptions I have provided."

However he also said Iraq had achieved a "substantial measure" of disarmament in recent days by destroying some of its missiles. "One can hardly avoid the impression that, after a period of somewhat reluctant co-operation, there has been an acceleration of initiatives from the Iraqi side since the end of January," Mr Blix told ministers at a tense meeting of the Security Council in New York.

He added that the co-operation "can be seen as active, or even proactive". With such gaping divisions remaining in the Council, it remained unclear whether Britain and the United States would be able to secure the nine votes they need for the resolution on Tuesday and, at the same time, avoid a veto by France and possibly Russia and China. One diplomatic source said he thought the resolution was about as likely to pass on Tuesday as he was to "get a date with Julia Roberts".

Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, told the Security Council that Paris remained determined not to "allow a resolution to pass that authorises the automatic use of force". And he instantly dismissed the British proposal for a compliance deadline. Mr de Villepin floated the possibility of holding a summit of the leaders of all Council member states next week to tackle the crisis. But the idea was shot down by the United States.

The normal politesse of the Council splintered when Mr Straw reacted by singling out and bluntly disdaining the words of M. de Villepin, saying he was guilty of making a "false choice" between disarmament by peaceful means or by force.

It was a stunning series of verbal jabs at the French minister, whose face, just across the horseshoe of the Council, darkened several shades.

The amended draft resolution concludes that Iraq will have "failed" to take the final opportunity to disarm, unless "on or before 17 March 2003, the Council concludes that Iraq has demonstrated 'full, unconditional, immediate and active co-operation with its disarmament obligations'." The implication of failure is that swift military punishment will follow.

President George Bush pre-empted the Blix report by warning in a White House news conference on Thursday night that he intended pushing on to war even if the resolution was defeated. He would thus thrust his main ally, Tony Blair, into a political shooting gallery at home by forcing him into a war without UN backing. Mr Bush said: "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council. It's time for people to show their cards."

If the UN rejects the resolution next week, military action could begin even earlier, possibly within 48 hours, giving time for evacuations.

While stopping far short of giving Iraq a clean sheet, Mr Blix made clear that his teams were making progress towards finding out the truth about its weapons programmes. "It will not take years, it will not weeks. It will take months," he said, apparently giving ammunition to France, Russia, China and Germany, all of which want inspections to continue. He also referred to Iraq's steps towards destroying its al-Samoud 2 missiles. "The destruction undertaken constitutes a substantial measure of disarmament. We are not watching the destruction of toothpicks. Lethal weapons are being destroyed," he said.

Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, said he considered it "incomprehensible" that anyone should be considering abandoning inspections now, given the recent progress. Tang Jiaxuan, China's Foreign Minister, said he saw no need for another UN resolution, "particularly one that authorises force".