By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor and Toby Harnden in Washington (Filed: 04/12/2002)

Saddam Hussein began a new round of brinkmanship yesterday when his lieutenants said they would tell the United Nations on Saturday that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction. UN personnel arrive at Al Sajoud Palace in Baghdad, which they will inpsect for the first time

Tony Blair said such a claim would be a blatant lie. He warned the Iraqi dictator that if he refused to co-operate in any way "he must be disarmed by force".

But British and American officials believe privately that Iraq will try to divide the international community by issuing a detailed and ambiguous declaration.

In the latest sign of the escalating tensions, Turkey said yesterday that it would open its airbases to US warplanes mounting military operations against Iraq.

George W Bush, the US president, told Saddam on Monday that he would be inviting war if he did not provide a complete list of his weapons of mass destruction.

Speaking in Louisiana yesterday, he said he had little patience for drawn out inspections and would consider a false declaration a justification for war.

"He says he won't have weapons of mass destruction," he said. "He's not only got them, he's used them. The issue is whether or not Mr Saddam Hussein will disarm like he said he would."

UN Security Council resolution 1441 demands that Iraq should provide by Sunday a complete declaration of its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes, as well as ballistic missiles.

The White House is concerned that an incomplete declaration could still be hailed in Europe as a breakthrough.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2002