US left isolated over inspectors offer

The United States today moved urgently to keep up the pressure on Saddam Hussein and prevent the fragile international alliance against him from falling apart.

Vice-president Dick Cheney, one of the leading hawks in the Bush administration, dismissed the offer to let United Nations weapons inspectors back in as a mere delaying tactic.

Accusing Saddam of attempting, yet again, to thwart the will of the UN, he said the move was "meant to obfuscate and deter action".

Senior figures in both Washington and London warned that, in the words of President Bush, the UN "must not be fooled".

Elsewhere, however, there were signs that the Iraqi offer had taken the steam out of the gathering international support for tough action. And at Westminster there were signals of trouble ahead for Tony Blair.

Two key members of the UN Security Council, Russia and France, said there was now no need for a further resolution to bring Saddam to heel.

France ' s foreign minister, Dominique de Villetin, said the organisation should hold off until it became clear whether the inspectors were being given unfettered access to seek out weapons of mass destruction.

"I think that, already, all the elements that are needed to act are there," he said.

Russia which, like France, has the power to veto any resolution, said that the need for armed action had been averted. Key Arab states also backed away from confrontation. Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, declared: "We see no reason to go to the Security Council right now, except to register the agreement that has been reached." His counterpart in Jordan said that Saddam's offer should be taken "at face value".

The UN's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, held opening talks with Iraqi officials last night and there were suggestions that they would meet again in Vienna in two weeks' time. To sceptics in Washington and London that confirmed fears that Saddam had simply bought himself a massive amount of time to duck and weave.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that the Iraqi leader had "a history of playing 'rope-a-dope' with the world" while all the time developing his weapons arsenal.

Some experts suggested Iraq had gained up to a year's time, a fear which reinforced the determination of America and Britain to press the UN to set a strict deadline.

Among ministers there was concern that support for tough action would be badly hit when MPs reassemble for the Commons' emergency debate on Iraq next Tuesday.

Two of the most prominent Labour rebels, veteran MP Tam Dalyell and Left-winger Alice Mahon, welcomed the Iraqi offer and called on Mr Blair to "seize the moment" and opt for diplomacy not war. More significantly, Gerald Kaufman, a former shadow foreign secretary and a more cautious critic of the Government, said that while Iraq had a long track record of "prevarication and deception", if the latest offer was genuine then the Government's aims would have been met.

The first test will come on Monday when the full Cabinet meets to discuss the issue, with several members, including the Leader of the Commons Robin Cook and International Development Secretary Clare Short, known to be deeply doubtful over military action.

The Commons vote, when it comes, will be on a formal motion to adjourn. Up to 100 Labour rebels are threatening to force a vote on the direct issue of peace or war. And the Tories, although they back armed action, have said that if the vote is not a substantive one, they will stand on the sidelines and abstain.