UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Tuesday said: "The time is up for Iraq to comply."

Washington does not know how to back down and does not like doing it Rossiyskaya Gazeta .

European press views

His comments come a day after UN weapons inspectors delivered an unexpectedly harsh report to the Security Council, accusing the Iraqi leadership of failing to come to a genuine acceptance of disarmament.

Possible war with Iraq is set to dominate President George W Bush's annual State of the Union address in Washington later on Tuesday (0200 GMT Wednesday.)

People tuning in "won't hear a deadline, they won't hear a declaration of war," Mr Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said.

But the US leader is likely to spell out in broad terms the threat Iraq poses to US interests.

Final chance

The chance of the Iraq crisis being resolved peacefully has receded because of Baghdad's "unbelievable refusal" to comply with UN resolution 1441, Mr Straw told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"There is still an opportunity for Iraq to comply... They have to seize this opportunity," he said.

CRUCIAL WEEK

27 Jan - First full report on inspections presented to UN 28 Jan - Bush's State of the Union speech 29 Jan - UN discusses report 31 Jan - Bush meets Blair

Next steps in full

Hours earlier there was a similar warning from Colin Powell. Baghdad's chance to disarm peacefully was "fast coming to an end", he said.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has insisted Iraq is co-operating with UN inspectors, but promised they would concentrate on improving.

In an interview with Canadian television, he also refused to rule out attacking Kuwait if it is used as a base for a US military operation against Iraq.

"If there will be an attack from Kuwait, I cannot say that we will not retaliate. We will of course retaliate against the American troops wherever they start their aggression on Iraq. This is legitimate," he said.

Intelligence reports

The White House has not yet decided what to do next in the wake of the weapons inspectors' report, but officials say a decision could come as early as the beginning of next week.

	:	Who backs war?
Where key nations stand on Iraq

However, Mr Bush has decided to declassify some intelligence material, the Washington Post newspaper has reported.

This is said to show Iraq moving and concealing illegal weapons in recent days, in some cases only hours before the arms inspectors arrived at a site.

The administration is also planning to release intelligence on Iraq's alleged connections to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Mixed verdict

UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix told the UN Security Council on Monday that Iraq has so far complied with UN demands only reluctantly and may still possess biological weapons and rockets.

UN'S CONCERNS

No proof of destruction of anthrax stocks 300 rocket engines unaccounted for VX gas not destroyed? Harassment of inspectors Click here to see Blix's speech point by point

In his report, Mr Blix said Iraq had largely given inspectors prompt access to suspected weapons sites.

But, he said: "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance - not even today - of the disarmament which was demanded of it."

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said his inspectors had found no evidence that Iraq had resumed the nuclear programme it discontinued in the early 1990s.

But Mr ElBaradei said the inspectors needed "a few months" to continue their work, describing this as "a valuable investment in peace".

UN unity

Despite hawkish words coming from Washington and London, other members of the Security Council with the power of veto - China, Russia and France - continue to insist on a diplomatic solution.

China on Tuesday called on Baghdad to be more co-operative but urged patience from the US.

"We maintain that no conclusions should be jumped to at this state," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.

Omissions in the declarations submitted by Iraq... and failure to comply with and co-operate fully in the implementation of this resolution shall constitute a further material breach of Iraq's obligations UN Security Council resolution 1441

The resolution in detail

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said they were trying to find a compromise that would help preserve unity at the UN.

"If unilateral steps are taken circumventing the Security Council, this will evidently split the anti-terrorist coalition," Mr Ivanov said in a clear warning to the US.

The Security Council will hold closed discussions on Wednesday to consider the next step.

The US has made it clear it would be prepared to go to war without UN backing, if necessary.

The inspectors are due to deliver a further report on 14 February.