Pressure: Blix

Hopes of a second UN resolution backing force against Saddam Hussein have receded after Hans Blix appeared to ask for more time to disarm Iraq.

Whilst he warned Saddam that he must do more than open doors to inspectors, Blix said his team had failed to find a smoking gun in Iraq.

Reporting back to the security council, he said that "results to date have been consistent with the Iraqi declaration" on its weapons of mass destruction.

But he warned that "many proscribed weapons and items are not accounted for".

The report is a setback to Britain and the US which had hoped it would persuade the sceptics of the need for a military offensive against Iraq.

France said the report vindicated those who believe the inspectors must be given more time. The French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, said war should remain a last resort.

"The case for war is not justified at this time," he said. "There is an alternative to war - disarming Iraq through inspection."

The foreign secretary, however, continued to maintain that Iraq was violating the will of the United Nations.

"Iraq's material breaches are still there," said Jack Straw. "They have lied, they have concealed, they have played games."

He questioned whether Iraq "had come to a genuine acceptance of the disarmament which has been required of it".

And he urged world leaders to "hold our nerve" and "give meaning to our words".

Straw warned that the reputation of the UN as a whole was now on the line. "This period has been a period of humiliation as games have been played," he said.

But Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said the Blix report underlined that "you can't rush into a second resolution".

"This does not justify the case for a war," he said following the UN statement.

Failure to comply

Blix said there was an "absence of adequate evidence" that Saddam's chemical and biological material had been decommissioned.

He said he was "not hopeful that it could prove possible" to verify that agents such as anthrax and the VX nerve agent had been buried in the ground.

Blix told ministers that 1000 tonnes of chemical agents are still not accounted for.

He said he could "not exclude" the possibility that they were still in existence.

The UN was warned that "documentary evidence still appears to be needed" before Baghdad's claims can be believed.

Saddam had to deliver "full cooperation on process. and on substance" if he was to convince inspectors that his dossier "is a serious effort".

Whilst he noted that the Iraqi regime was not blocking inspections, he warned that "such cooperation requires more than the opening of doors".

"Access to sites has so far been without problems," he said, before adding: "In the current situation one would expect Iraq to be eager to comply."

More Time

During a flat and technical account of his inspections, he said that total disarmament could be achieved if inspectors were given more time and Iraq gave its full compliance.

"Today, three months after the adoption of resolution 1441, the period of disarmament by inspection could still be short if, and I quote, 'immediate, active and unconditional cooperation' with UNMOVIC and the IEA was to be forthcoming."

Blix did not dispute US intelligence which suggested that Saddam is still in possession of weapons of mass destruction.

"Governments have many sources of information that are not available to inspectors," he added.

But he noted that there was no clear proof to verify Colin Powell's claims that Saddam is illicitly moving arms.

After 11 weeks of inspections, Blix said he was building up a good picture on the ground but warned "we do not know every cave and corner".

He said his weapons inspections teams "had continued to build up its capabilities" over recent weeks.

Blix reported that he had carried out 400 inspections over 300 sites throughout Iraq.

These included presidential palaces, military camps, universities and agricultural sites.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there was no evidence to suggest Saddam was developing a nuclear programme.

"No evidence of on-going nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq exists," he said.

Second Resolution

The US is now expected to say that Dr Blix's account proves that Saddam is still failing to comply with resolution 1441 which requires complete cooperation.

It is likely to bring forward a second resolution which backing the use of force to disarm Saddam

But Russia and France are holding out for Blix to be given more time to achieve disarmament through inspection.

Prior to the meeting of the security council, the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, distributed a document to foreign ministers which rebutted many of the claims made by the US administration.

Critics of the US said the document - combined with what they saw as the chief weapons inspector's call for more time - proves that a military conflict cannot be justified.

In the corridors of the UN building in New York, Britain and the US will be attempting to challenge this perception over the course of this weekend.

But Russia is still threatening to use its veto to halt any move towards a UN-sanctioned conflict in the Gulf.

A stalemate could force Britain to consider the option of embarking on a military offensive without a second resolution from the security council.