Sort out Iraq or we will, Bush tells UN

President George Bush yesterday bluntly told the United Nations to "show some backbone" in obliging Saddam Hussein to comply with long-ignored resolutions on ridding itself of weapons of mass destruction. If the UN fails to deal with Iraq, the United States will, he said.

It was the most forceful language yet used by the President, who laid out his case for international action against Iraq in a landmark address to the UN in New York on Thursday. He spoke yesterday before talks at Camp David with Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, delivered a similarly harsh message to the UN General Assembly yesterday. Britain and the US are trying to overcome widespread scepticism about the need for military action to enforce UN resolutions if Iraq fails to respond.

The time had arrived, the President declared, for the UN to "show its relevance". He added: "Make no mistake about it. If we have to deal with the problem, we'll deal with it. Saddam Hussein has defied the United Nations 16 times. Not once, not twice, 16 times, he has defied the United Nations. Enough is enough."

In his address, Mr Straw made it clear that the authority of the UN, which should insist on its weapons inspectors being readmitted, "has to be underpinned by the force of arms". Otherwise, he said, the organisation would be put at risk by Saddam and other aggressors.

Mr Straw, insisting that Saddam had "persistently mocked" the authority of the UN and "defied and frustrated every attempt to enforce the international rule of law" for two decades, said Iraq was the only country to be condemned by the UN for breaching the Geneva Convention on chemical weapons, had fought wars of aggression against two neighbours, launched missile attacks against five countries and used poison gas on its own people.

The speech came alongside reports of increased activity in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar, where around 1,000 US military personnel are now stationed. Six hundred core staff will move from the US Central Command's Florida HQ to the Qatar air base in November for an exercise, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed. Military experts said the facilities at the air base could be used to co-ordinate attacks on Iraq.

A US Congressman visiting Baghdad appealed for a toning down of the language of war. "It is time to cool the rhetoric and start a dialogue between our two countries," said the Democrat Representative Nick Rahall during a meeting with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister.