US President George W Bush said tomorrow would be the last day for diplomatic efforts to peacefully disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "We concluded that tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," Mr Bush told a news conference today in the Azores, where he attended a crisis summit with the leaders of Britain, Spain and Portugal.
Mr Bush said Monday would be the last day a US-backed resolution to authorise war could be voted on at the United Nations Security Council. "Tomorrow's the day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work," he said.
Once diplomacy was exhausted, US officials said, Washington would move to a war footing. They said Mr Bush could address the United States as early as tomorrow, issuing a final ultimatum to Saddam and giving aid workers and others time to leave Iraq.
The US-backed resolution, which faces a French veto even if the needed nine votes to pass it could be found, would demand that Saddam eliminate alleged weapons of mass destruction or face war. Prime Ministers Mr Jose Maria Aznar and Mr Tony Blair said one final round of diplomatic contacts would be made, in a last-ditch effort to win agreement on an ultimatum for Saddam. But a source briefing reporters on Mr Aznar's plane said Spain was not confident the votes were there.
Shortly after the summit, Saddam Hussein displayed fresh defiance, saying Iraq would fight "anywhere in the world" if the United States invaded. "When the enemy opens the war on a large scale, it should realise that the battle between us will be waged wherever there is sky, earth and water anywhere in the world," he told a group of military officers at a meeting reported by the state Iraqi News Agency.
Today Saddam divided Iraq into four military districts under his command to prepare for any assault by a quarter of a million US and British troops massed in the Gulf region. He denied having banned weapons and called the United States "the unjust judge of the world".
The dispute within the UN Security Council has caused a bitter split, with France, Germany and Russia sharply opposing any automatic authorisation of force and calling for more time to allow international arms inspectors to work.
The allies in the Azores showed little interest in signals from France that it could accept a 30-day or 60-day limit on the inspections. "Without a credible ultimatum authorising force in the event of non-compliance, then more discussion is just more delay," Mr Blair said.
Mr Bush has vowed to bypass the United Nations if it fails to disarm Iraq, and has called the Security Council debate a test of the body's relevance. But he said he would go back to the United Nations to seek its cooperation to rebuild the country after any war.
"If military force is required, we will quickly seek new Security Council resolutions to encourage broad participation in the process of helping the Iraqi people to build a free Iraq," he said.