The disagreement, at a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, suggested that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has started to make cracks in the broad consensus against him by backing down when faced with the threat of U.S. attack.

It also revealed a split between those governments whose main concern is to avert a U.S. attack on Iraq and those who believe the priority is to disarm Iraq at any cost.

US President Bush said the U.N. Security Council "must not be fooled" by Iraq's offer, while the Pentagon planned for possible war and arms inspectors, responsible for checking Iraq for nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic weapons, prepared to return.

Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix met top Iraqi arms experts on Tuesday briefly to discuss the inspectors' readmission. The two sides will meet again in Vienna during the week of Sept. 30. A precise date has not been set.

Bush told the United Nations last Thursday it should no longer allow Iraq to defy resolutions dating back to the 1991 Gulf War, particularly those on weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq responded on Monday with an unconditional offer to readmit inspectors. They left Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of U.S.-British bombing raids to punish Baghdad for alleged non-cooperation and have not been permitted to return.

U.N. inspectors who did go into Iraq during the 1990s complained of hindrance and deceit by the Iraqis, while Baghdad accused them of spying for the United States.

The government in Baghdad said its offer had robbed the United States of any reason to wage war. Iraqis in the street welcomed their government's sudden shift, but some feared it would not stop the United States from attacking.

World oil prices fell on Tuesday as traders' fears of imminent military action receded. International benchmark Brent crude oil fell 55 cents to $27.97 a barrel.

THE IRAQI OFFER -- IS IT ENOUGH?

The focus at the United Nations on Tuesday was whether the Iraqi offer had removed the need for a new resolution to give the inspectors new and stronger powers.

Russia, one of five council members with veto power, told the news conference that the Iraqi offer made further action by the Security Council unnecessary at this stage and that the inspectors did not need additional instructions.

"From our standpoint, we don't need any special resolution," Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said. "All of the necessary resolutions are to hand."

"What procedures they should follow, well we know those too. All of these matters were agreed to during the preliminary inspections (in the 1990s)," he added.

But Bush was adamant, saying: "The Security Council must act, must act in a way to hold this regime to account, must not be fooled, must be relevant to keep the peace."

The Bush administration, which wants to get rid of Saddam and does not trust Iraqi promises, said it wanted a Security Council resolution spelling out Iraq's obligations and stating the consequences for failure to comply.

"The only way to make sure it is not business as usual and to make sure it is not a repeat of the past ... is to put it in the form of a new U.N. resolution," US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the news conference in New York.

"It's quite appropriate ... for the Security Council to consider the circumstances under which they might return, what they must be free to do, what additional instructions may be appropriate," Powell added.

Canada backed the U.S. position but Egypt and France tended toward the Russian position. The European Union and the United Nations adopted stances midway between the two.

In Paris, a French diplomatic source said France would be willing to discuss a new Security Council resolution as long as the resolution would not be divisive.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher of Egypt, part of an Arab consensus against military action against Iraq, said: "Now there is a way to resume the inspections. In light of this, I don't understand the point of going to the Security Council."

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country has the presidency of the European Union, was wary of the Iraqi offer, conveyed in a letter from its foreign minister, Naji Sabri, to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday.

PENTAGON WAR PLANS

As the diplomatic wrangle progressed, Washington's war planning marched ahead.

The United States is discussing with Britain the possibility of basing B-2 "stealth" bombers on the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and the military is proceeding with plans to send much of its key Central Command staff to Qatar for an exercise.

"We've seen this before. The Iraqis are masters of the stop-and-start," one U.S. official said. "If we stopped every time they started, we would never end their WMD (weapons of mass destruction) program."

Israel's army chief said on Tuesday Baghdad's offer for an unconditional return of U.N. arms inspectors had not changed Israeli preparations for a possible U.S. attack on Iraq.

"We are still working under the assumption something will happen, and therefore we have to get ready," Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon said. "From what I can see, there is a very determined American decision to achieve in any way the goals the United States has set from the start," he said.

At the United Nations meeting, U.N. weapons inspectors and Iraq's top arms experts discussed how to address logistic issues on offices, flights, escorts and other planning. There was no word on when the inspectors would return.

Iraqi officials also agreed to consider national legislation prohibiting weapons of mass destruction activities, as required by U.N. resolutions, and to catch up on declarations of changes in former weapons sites that were under U.N. monitoring, a statement from Blix said.

INSPECTORS PREPARE

Iraq has not submitted declarations, required twice a year, since the inspectors were pulled out of Iraq in December 1998.

Blix conferred with Hasam Mohammed Amin, head of the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate, the office used for liaison with U.N. inspectors, and Saeed Hasan, a Foreign Minister official, who was Baghdad's former U.N. ambassador.

In a related development, the Security Council asked current president, Bulgarian Ambassador Stefan Tafrov, to arrange a council meeting with Blix as soon as possible.

Blix has a staff of 63 in New York, some of whom could go to Baghdad quickly to analyze Iraq's chemical, biological and missile programs. Two hundred trained experts from 44 nations are on call and could be put to work within weeks.

In Washington, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said on Tuesday he expected Congress to vote on a resolution on Iraq before the Nov. 5 Congressional election as Bush has requested.

A number of Democrats had pushed to put off voting on a resolution that, if passed, would authorize Bush to use force against Iraq. Democrats wanted to wait until after the election, which will decide whether Republicans keep control of the House of Representatives and the Democrats the Senate.

(China Daily September 18, 2002)