Troops readied for war

Tony Blair and George Bush are planning an emergency council of war this weekend in the final countdown to action against Iraq.

The President, the Prime Minister and Spain's premier, Jose Maria Aznar, are expected to meet on Sunday in the Azores in a demonstration of solidarity - and resolve.

Downing Street said that the summit of the front-line three, who have all along led the effort to compel Saddam Hussein to disarm, had not yet been finalised but the Prime Minister's senior aides are on standby to go.

Mr Blair's official spokesman would say only "if the Prime Minister has to travel, then obviously he will".

The summit announcement came as the military buildup to war intensified. In northern Kuwait today, men of 3 Commando Brigade said their last prayers before battle.

"We face the unknown," said the chaplain. "Possible injury, possible death. You might possibly be exposed to horrors you cannot imagine in the next few days or weeks.

"There is the possibility - I hope to God not - that some of you out here now may not be going home. But nevertheless each of us has to face each day as if it were our last. If we live each day as if it were our last, we will be ready."

President Bush has conducted almost his entire campaign against Iraq and against international terrorism from inside America's borders, and any summit outside the US would be a rare gesture from him.

The Sunday meeting would also give the three leaders the chance to take stock of the diplomatic tussle being waged in the United Nations and to decide whether there was still any hope at all of winning the fresh resolution to
authorise military action.

This has been consistently opposed by France, but today the country was forced onto the back foot over Iraq in the face of an unprecedented diplomatic assault from Britain and the US.

Foreign minister Dominique de Villepin claimed "everything should be done" to "preserve the unity" of the UN Security Council.

The comments appeared to be a softening of Paris's line after weeks of declarations that France would simply veto any fresh resolution that would pave the way for a military strike. There was, though, no sign that a deal was in the bag as the hard bargaining at the UN continued.

M de Villepin told French journalists: "France confirms its openness to seize all opportunities."

However, he later condemned the US and Britain for sanctioning a "hasty rush" towards war - and a simple statement from President Jacques Chirac that his country would still wield its veto would put paid to any hopes of diplomatic progress.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw kept up the pressure in a newspaper interview today by claiming the French veto threat was making war more rather than less likely. "Unfortunately, they appear to have made the decision not to enforce UN resolution 1441. That renders it less likely that we can get a peaceful outcome."

In Germany, however, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, the most outspoken of the European doves, today reaffirmed that the weapons inspectors must be allowed to carry on their work. He told his parliament that "with our French friends, with Russia, China and the majority of the Security Council", Germany was more than ever convinced that the disarmament of Saddam could be brought about by peaceful means.

As the wrangling continued at the UN, the US made it clear it was prepared to see the process last a few more days, buying time for Mr Blair, who is under threat of Cabinet resignations.

US secretary of state Colin Powell, however, sent out conflicting signals about whether Washington would force the issue to a vote on a second resolution early next week.

He said: "The options remain: go for a vote and see what members say, or not go for a vote. All the options that you can imagine are before us and we will be examining them today, tomorrow and at the weekend."

Mr Blair has set out a provisional timetable for next week as preparations for war gather pace - with or without backing from the Security Council.

The Cabinet could meet in emergency session on Monday or Tuesday, authorising British troops to take action within days. This would then be swiftly followed by a Commons debate in which Mr Blair would face another big Labour rebellion.

It would be at this point, as long as no fresh UN resolution had been carried, that the Prime Minister could expect two Cabinet resignations - from International Development Secretary Clare Short, who last weekend accused Mr Blair of being "reckless" over Iraq, and Commons Leader Robin Cook.

Mr Cook put down a marker in yesterday's Cabinet meeting, indicating he was ready to quit. But strong support for Mr Blair came from Chancellor Gordon Brown, who told the BBC it would be acceptable to use military force in the face of an "unreasonable" veto of a UN resolution by France.

Mr Straw's agreement to drop a demand that Saddam go on Iraqi TV to admit hiding illicit weapons was understood to have gone some way to relieving concerns among the six undecided Security Council nations - Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan.

Hugh Dougherty writes from Qatar: the US general who will command the attack on Iraq said today war is "better sooner than later".

General Tommy Franks, speaking for the first time from Central Command at Camp As Sayliyah said he had "no doubt" about the outcome of military action. General Franks will have complete control of the military operation, which includes 45,000 British personnel, 225,000 US soldiers, sailors, marines and aircrew and 2,000 Australian special

forces and fighter pilots. He said every part of his force was ready. "If you talk to a young trooper on the front line, most will say, 'Let's go'. "Sooner is better than later."

He added: "There is absolutely no question in my mind that if the President of the United States decides to take military action that we have sufficient - I use the word capacity, not levels of troops, not counts of bombs - we have sufficient military capacity to do the job."

He spoke amid intelligence reports of Iraqi activity which US analysts fear may mean Saddam could mount a some sort of lastminute attack, if the order for war comes.