Britain said this afternoon that splits delaying a fresh UN vote on Iraq were sending Saddam Hussein the wrong signal as opponents of a rush to war called for an extension of weapons inspections.
Efforts by Britain and the United States to give Iraq a March 17th ultimatum on scrapping weapons of mass destruction or face attack have failed to draw widespread backing, forcing them to put off a vote in the Security Council until later this week.
France and Russia say they will block such a deadline. Other members of the 15-nation Security Council have suggested giving Iraq a further month or more to comply.
"My concern is if countries talk about using a veto in all sets of circumstances, the message that sends to Saddam is: "you're off the hook," British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said.
A flurry of telephone diplomacy by US President George W. Bush pushing for the swift ultimatum have made little headway, but he has said he would attack Iraq even without UN support.
This would cause major problems for his number one ally, Mr Blair, who faces open revolt within his Labour Party if British troops join in an attack without Security Council approval.
In Iraq, workers began destroying more of the prohibited al-Samoud 2 missiles, a day after chief weapons inspector Mr Hans Blix criticised Baghdad for not declaring a suspicious drone.
Iraq has denied accusations it is hiding weapons of mass destruction and says it is co-operating with UN inspectors.