US turns on 'old Europe' as rift over invasion deepens

Britain and the United States dismissed European opposition to an early war against Iraq yesterday, saying that if military action became inevitable, plenty of countries would join a "strong coalition" to topple Saddam Hussein, even without a new United Nations resolution authorising force.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said France – which has threatened to use its veto in the Security Council – "knew what it was saying" when it voted on last November's resolution 1441 and its warning of "serious consequences" if Iraq did not comply.

But feelings are running high. Yesterday, two French ministers expressed outrage at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's sneering description of France and Germany as "old Europe," because Paris and Berlin have dug in their heels against military action.

Roselyne Bachelot, the environment minister, told one interviewer: "If you knew what I felt like telling Mr Rumsfeld ..." before stopping herself, saying the word was too offensive.

She then used a well-known regional expression dating from the Napoleonic era for a four-letter word. Finance minister Francis Mer said he was "profoundly annoyed" by Mr Rumsfeld's remarks.

The exchanges, coupled with China's backing for the French stance, highlight the gulf between the US and Britain on the one hand, and most of the remaining 13 Security Council members on the other, ahead of Monday's presentation of the weapons inspectors' report. The next night, Mr Bush delivers his State of the Union address.

It was an "open question" whether Britain and the US would present a second resolution, Colin Powell, the Secretary of State said, with Mr Straw alongside him. Britain, said the Foreign Secretary, would "much prefer" a second resolution, but "we already have full approval" if there was no alternative to the use of force.

The 27 January report almost certainly will prove inclusive. Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector, said results of the first 60 days of inspections had been "a mixed bag". Access to sites had been satisfactory, he said, but Iraq's refusal to permit U-2 spy plane overflights was "a problem." The Bush administration moved to counter claims it had not made a case that Iraq represented a real threat and had already violated the terms of resolution 1441.

Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, and deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, listed Baghdad's shortcomings, saying the issue was not inspections, but Iraq's manifest refusal to disarm.

The onus was on President Saddam to come clean, not on the inspectors to find a "smoking gun," Mr Wolfowitz said.

Meanwhile, fearful that an attack on Iraq could have devastating consequences for the region, foreign ministers from Syria, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran joined to urge Iraq to comply with UN inspectors.