Iraq has shown a massive dossier on its weapons programme to journalists, as it prepares to hand it over to United Nations inspectors.

We will carry ...an important message from leader President Saddam Hussein, may God watch over him, to the people of Kuwait

Iraqi radio announcement

Small groups of reporters filed into the headquarters of the Iraqi body liaising with the UN, the National Monitoring Directorate, to get a glimpse of the document.

National Monitoring Directorate head Hussam Mohammed Amin said it would be handed over to weapons inspectors in a few hours.

He added that Iraq was "empty of any weapons of mass destruction", although the document contained some activities which were potentially for dual military and civilian use.

The BBC's Ben Brown in Baghdad says that in view of this, the dossier is almost certain to fall short of US and British demands.

US keeps up pressure

In his pre-recorded weekly radio address, broadcast on Saturday, US President George W Bush said the US would judge it only after it was thoroughly examined, and "that will take some time".

He warned that any Iraqi act of delay or defiance "will prove that (President) Saddam Hussein has not adopted the path of compliance and has rejected the path of peace".

"Thus far we are not seeing the fundamental shift in practice and attitude that the world is demanding," he said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi state media has announced that Saddam Hussein will make an "important address" to the Kuwaiti people at 2000 local time (1700 GMT) on Saturday.

Saturday also saw two teams of weapons inspectors resume their work after the two-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr with visits to research facilities south of the capital, Baghdad.

US insistence

Mr Amin said many Iraqi scientists had been involved in preparing the dossier.

	Inspections timetable: 8 December: Iraq must make a current and complete declaration of chemical, biological, nuclear and missile programmes. 26 January: Inspectors have 60 days from the start of inspections to report on their progress. Inspections can be halted at any time, and "serious consequences" ensue if Iraq obstructs inspectors. See also: The timetable in detail Resolution 1441

He believed that the US and Britain had insisted on such a detailed project in the belief that Iraq would not be able to complete it by the UN deadline of Sunday.

"If the US has minimum levels of fairness and bravery it should accept the report," he said.

The document numbers 11,807 pages, and was displayed on a long wooden table in stacks of files, folders and CD-Roms.

Its English title is Currently Accurate, Full and Complete Declarations.

Our correspondent says there were scenes of chaos at the viewing, with journalists falling over themselves to get a glimpse of the document.

Windows were broken and a door pushed down as photographers, camera crews and journalists fought for access.

Iraqi officials then called a halt to the viewing and expelled the media, according to the AFP news agency.

Nuclear programme

Earlier in the day, a team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic) visited the al-Quds site in the town of al-Iskandariyah, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Baghdad.

The site is suspected of being involved in the development of chemical and biological weapons.

Hamid al-Azzawi, the facility's director, said the inspectors toured the entire site and were given full co-operation.

The International Atomic Energy Authority's (IAEA) team went to the al-Tuwaitha nuclear research complex, 20km south of the capital.

Al-Tuwaitha was the site of Iraq's nuclear research programme before it was dismantled by previous teams of inspectors.

The inspection team spent five hours there on 4 December. Sorour Mahmoud, chief of the Iraqi Atomic Commission, said they returned to check stores where equipment had been monitored by previous teams.