Baghdad - Iraq has rejected a UN Security Council resolution under which UN inspectors would return to the country to supervise the dismantling of its weapons of mass destruction in return for a move towards the lifting of sanctions.
The Iraqi response to the so-called "omnibus" resolution, the outcome of long and tortuous wrangling at the UN, has raised new fears in the region that the US and Britain will again consider military action. Iraq is already signalling its readiness to confront any attack.
Thousands of Iraqis, mobilised by the Ba'ath party, poured into the streets of Baghdad on Saturday chanting "No to the Anglo-American-Zionist resolution", "No to the Security Council", and "Yes to the lifting of the embargo".