Iraq has invited the chief UN weapons inspectors back to Baghdad as the US builds a coalition for a possible military strike.

For the sake of peace this issue must be resolved. Hopefully it can be done peacefully George W Bush

Chief inspector Hans Blix said there was no sign of increased Iraqi co-operation with the inspectors searching for evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

Ahead of a key meeting with Britain's Tony Blair on Friday, US President George W Bush said Washington was entering the final phase of consultations aimed at disarming Iraq peacefully.

He warned that the diplomatic push would last "weeks, not months".

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Where key nations stand on Iraq

The Iraqi Government says it has invited Mr Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei - the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog - for talks before 10 February in an effort to boost "co-operation and transparency".

The two men are due to present their next report to the UN Security Council on 14 February.

KEY DATES

31 Jan - Bush meets Blair 5 Feb - Powell to address UN Security Council 14 Feb - Further report from weapons inspectors 27 Mar - Blix submits new report to UN

Next steps in full

In their first formal briefing on Monday, the inspectors said Iraq had not shown "genuine acceptance" of the UN's demands on disarmament.

The United States and its allies are stepping up the pressure on Iraq.

Mr Bush said that if Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein should "choose to leave the country along with a lot of the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that, of course".

Mr Bush held talks in Washington with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday, and is due to meet Mr Blair at the presidential retreat of Camp David later on Friday.

Mr Blair stopped in Madrid en route to Washington for talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

Mr Blair said "we must support the inspectors," but he warned that "if disarmament cannot happen through the inspections, then it must happen by other means".

European discord

The US says nine countries have committed to providing troops if there is a war, and about 20 have offered the US access to their territory or overflight rights.

Powell is due to brief the UN next week

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Earlier on Thursday, the leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic published an open letter expressing solidarity with the United States over disarming Iraq.

But Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis - whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union - criticised the statement.

"The way in which the initiative on the issue of Iraq was expressed does not contribute to the common approach to the problem," he said.

Analysts say the letter is an apparent rebuff to France and Germany, whose leaders have expressed reluctance to approve military action against Baghdad and were not invited to sign the letter.

Fresh evidence

In related developments:

• France reaffirmed its opposition to any attack on Iraq without a fresh resolution.

• Germany rejected allegations that it was isolated internationally.

• Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal - after talks with Mr Bush - said the question of Saddam Hussein being allowed to go into exile was not mentioned during the meeting.

• The UN Security Council has been discussing the inspector's report ahead of next week's key address by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, which Washington says will give fresh evidence about Iraq's weapons.

• The Iraqi opposition said US troops were already in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq - but the Pentagon said there were no "significant forces" in the area "right now".