Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has warned that anyone who tries to invade his country will be defeated.

The inspectors have asked for more time... wisdom obliges us to respond to their request French President Jacques Chirac

In a defiant speech to mark the 12th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War, the Iraqi leader said his people were determined to make any new invading force "commit suicide" at the gates of Baghdad.

He was speaking as the UN's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, was briefing French President Jacques Chirac on the discovery of what monitors have described as empty warheads designed to carry chemical weapons.

The 11 warheads were found on Thursday at the Ukhaider military storage facility - Iraq said they were merely empty rockets that had expired.

Mr Blix said the situation was very tense and that inspectors needed more "sincere and pro-active co-operation from the Iraqi side".

President Chirac called on Iraq to give clear signs that it is co-operating actively with the weapons inspectors.

He also backed the inspectors' calls for more time.

Mr Blix and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, are due to hold talks with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair later in the day.

Baghdad defiant

The US has threatened military action if Iraq is found to have breached a recent UN resolution which obliged it to list all its weapons.

KEY DATES

16 Jan - Chief UN inspector Hans Blix briefs EU 19 Jan - Blix meets top Iraqi officials in Baghdad 27 Jan - First full report on inspections presented to UN 29 Jan - UN discusses report 31 Jan - Bush meets Blair 15 Feb - Anti-war protests across Europe 27 Mar - Blix submits new report to UN

Next steps in full

Saddam Hussein said Baghdad had defended itself with determination 12 years ago, defeating the "evil troops" of dozens of countries.

America had failed to conquer Iraq last time, he said, and had proved itself incapable of learning from past mistakes.

Anyone who tried to climb over the walls of Baghdad now, he said, would fail in the attempt.

"Baghdad, its people and leadership, is determined to force the Mongols of our age to commit suicide at its gates," the Iraqi leader said, referring to the Mongol armies who sacked the Iraqi capital in 1258.

'No rush'

The BBC's James Coomarasamy says Paris has been sending mixed messages about the French diplomatic stance in this crisis.

IRAQI MATERIAL UNACCOUNTED FOR

Nearly four tons of VX nerve agents Growth media for 20,000 litres of biological warfare agents 15,000 shells for use in biological warfare 6,000 chemical warfare bombs Nuclear information

It wants another UN resolution before military force is used against Baghdad - but Mr Chirac has warned his troops to be prepared for anything in the coming year.

In London, Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said the British Government was in "no rush to judgment" over the warheads discovery.

"The inspectors need time to look at this particular finding and also to make a general assessment of how the inspections are going," he told the BBC.

The discovery may be viewed by the US and Britain as part of a pattern of infringements by Iraq.

But BBC world affairs correspondent Peter Biles says Mr Blair is likely to agree with Mr Blix that inspectors need more time to do their work.

After the meetings in Europe, Mr Blix will fly out to Baghdad to meet up with his inspection team, before giving a preliminary report to the UN Security Council in New York on 27 January.

It is not clear whether the warheads discovered by weapons inspectors ever contained banned chemicals - experts have taken away samples for testing.

Mr Blix said it was too early to know if the warheads were listed in the declaration presented by Baghdad last month, as the Iraqis have claimed.