"Without a doubt, there will be attempts to find a way to confer legitimacy on military operations or post-war reorganization in Iraq through the UN Security Council," Ivanov told a meeting of the non-governmental Foreign and Defense Policy Council, according to the Interfax news agency.

"We, of course, will not give this military action legitimacy through possible Security Council resolutions," he was quoted as saying.

Ivanov also said Moscow had asked for clarification on a "strange" US request for countries to expel Iraqi diplomats.

He said the Iraqi ambassador to Moscow was officially accredited and would continue his work as before. "What threat could they (the diplomats) present for US security?"

Ivanov said the request to expel diplomats and freeze Iraqi assets was "not made by accident."

"In this way, they are saying that everything before today was illegal, all contracts signed before are illegal, and legality begins with the arrival of a new administration, even a temporary one," Ivanov said.

Since the late 1990s, Russian companies have signed with Iraq a dozen contracts worth US$600 million a year in profits. However, all these remain frozen as a result of the sanctions against Iraq.

Meanwhile, Ivanov denounced the Turkish troops' advance into Iraqi territory. "We condemn all forms of war, whether from the south, north or from the Turkish side."

"A political settlement is needed instead of a troop deployment that will further aggravate the situation" in Iraq, he added.

He warned that the United States would suffer more damage from the war in Iraq than it expected, although it would win it.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2003)