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But Russia - which has a veto - has already said the amendment to the resolution would not change its opposition, and France has also indicated it is not persuaded.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has put forward the new deadline in an amendment to the resolution on Iraqi disarmament, tabled jointly with the United States and Spain.

It would give Iraq 10 days to demonstrate "full, unconditional, immediate and active co-operation with its disarmament obligations under resolution 1441".

This amendment doesn't change the nature of the draft, which is aimed at starting a war Yuri Fodotov Deputy foreign minister

The deadline, which is expected to be put to a vote next week, emerged on Friday as Mr Straw gave his response to a crucial weapons inspectors report at the UN Security Council.

The foreign secretary was particularly critical of French calls for inspectors to be given months of more time.

He argued the choice over war was in the hands of Saddam Hussein and that the threat of force was the only way of achieving Iraq's peaceful disarmament.

"There is only one sensible conclusion that we can draw: We have to increase the pressure on Saddam Hussein, we have to put this man to the test," said Mr Straw.

Iraq should have a "further period" to disarm, he argued, with the date of 17 March given in the text of his amendment.

'The test'

Mr Straw said he welcomed what progress inspections had made but it was "only the tip of a very large iceberg" of unfinished business.

But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fodotov told BBC Two's Newsnight: "Russia is negative with regard to the draft resolution. This amendment doesn't change the nature of the draft, which is aimed at starting a war.

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"Our position remains the same, Russia is highly negative. We believe this resolution will not be passed by the Security Council."

Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council that Iraq had accelerated its cooperation, but its efforts could not be called "immediate compliance".

Dr Blix called the destruction of 34 al-Samoud missiles a "substantial measure of disarmament".

The Iraqis had stepped up their cooperation efforts and those would be judged on how many questions they answered, he said.

'Unfounded claims'

In his report, Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said his team had found "no evidence or plausible indication" of a revival of nuclear weapons programmes.

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Reports that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger - something cited in the UK Government's dossier - were unfounded, he said.

Germany, France and Russia are warning they would vote against a new UN resolution and China also says the inspections should continue.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the pressure on Iraq was paying off and the inspectors should set out key benchmarks for Iraq to pass.

He rejected the idea of going to war on the proposed 17 March deadline timetable.

Despite that opposition, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he wanted the draft new resolution to go to a Security Council vote in the near future.