By Barnaby Mason BBC diplomatic correspondent

The United States and Britain are keeping up the pressure for a new United Nations Security Council resolution laying down terms for the disarmament of Iraq.

Washington and London are setting the pace, with Britain playing a big part in drafting the text of the resolution.

Neither side is giving much detail of the contents, but the aim is clear enough.

The UK is about to publish its dossier on Iraq's weapons programme

The Bush administration wants to make sure that a new mission by UN inspectors in Iraq does not drag out past the cool winter months most suited to military action.

A spokesman for the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said the UN had to be a way to deal with the issue of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction - not a means of endless prevarication.

British officials said there had to be an urgent inspection timetable and an early test of whether the Iraqi offer to co-operate was genuine; the resolution had to make that clear.

American and UN diplomats have said the draft text would declare Iraq to be in "material breach" of a range of Security Council resolutions - a phrase that could be interpreted as authority for military action to enforce them.

Divided Europe

The British Government is trying to reconcile the view of its European partners that Washington should wait for UN backing with President George W Bush's insistence that if the UN will not act, the US will.

But there are also differences within the European Union.

At a Europe-Asia summit in Copenhagen, Spain and Italy are reported to have joined Britain in giving strong support to a new resolution.

France meanwhile preferred to emphasise its opposition to any unilateral action, while Germany says it will not take part in military action against Iraq under any circumstances.

On Tuesday morning, Britain is to publish what it says is evidence of Saddam Hussein's continued pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

The document will be directed at other European governments as well as the numerous critics of the Bush-Blair line inside Britain.