Bush asks for 'blank cheque' to attack Iraq

President George Bush asked Congress yesterday for a "blank cheque" draft resolution on Iraq, giving him authorisation to use force to deal with Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader responded witha blistering attack on the US, delivered at the United Nations.

Reading extracts of a letter from President Saddam, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Naji Sabri, declared that Baghdad had no chemical, nuclear or biological weapons. He accused the Bush administration of putting out "lies, distortions, and falsehoods" about Iraq, as a pretext for an attack, whose true aim was to gain control of Middle Eastern oil.

"I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons," President Saddam said in his message.

In targeting Iraq, the US was "acting on behalf of Zionism which has been killing the heroic people of Palestine, destroying their property, murdering their children".

The message, applauded by diplomats at the UN, drew a predictable response from the White House, where officials described the claim that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction as "a fairy-tale."

Ari Fleischer, Mr Bush's spokesman said the speech presented "nothing new". It was "a disappointing failure" that changed nothing.

More ominously, the Iraqi leader hinted that the return of the UN weapons inspectors might not be quite as "unconditional" as first seemed. Not only should inspections be part of a comprehensive solution to the crisis, including the lifting of UN sanctions, they should also "respect arrangements" on Iraq's sovereignty and security – a possible warning that some of President Saddam's palaces and other suspect sites could be off limits.