As chief weapons inspector Hans Blix prepares his latest report to the security council, Iraq has agreed "in principle" to destroy banned missiles.

The head of the weapons inspection team is expected to deliver the final version of his latest report to members of the security council on Friday.

A draft copy, obtained by the BBC, could boost British and American efforts to secure a second United Nations resolution authorising military force.

It says that Iraq "could have made greater efforts to find any remaining proscribed items or provide credible evidence showing the absence of such items".

But as Blix prepared to hand over his three monthly report, as required in resolution 1284, Iraqi authorities indicated they would move to destroy the country's arsenal of al-Samoud II missiles.

However it was unclear whether Iraq would move to comply with the demand for the destruction process to begin by March 1.

Number 10 said the stance was predictable and added that the UN was still waiting for full co-operation.

And president Bush dismissed such a move as part of a "campaign of deception".

The latest developments in the crisis came as officials met on Thursday for a closed session to discuss the latest US-UK resolution.

So far diplomatic sources say China appears set to abstain rather than use their veto while France continues to refuse to offer support.

And Russia has also said it is opposed to a new resolution authoring military action.

But the government playing down the impact of the latest assessment by Dr Blix.

British officials expected the report would have little impact as the next key staging post for the UN comes when Blix report on March 7.