France Rejects Plan for Disarmament Tests

France today stated its opposition to Britain's six tests for Iraqi disarmament and threw the likelihood of a vote on a second resolution into doubt.

Its foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, said in a statement that the proposed compromise resolution did not "respond to the questions the international community is asking".

His British counterpart, Jack Straw, described the French position as "extraordinary" and the prime minister, Tony Blair, said he believed a second resolution on Iraq was "now probably less likely than at any time".

In a bid to win over security council waverers, Britain had yesterday put forward six tests by which the UN could judge whether President Saddam is complying with the UN's demand that he disarm. One of the tests requires him to give a televised confession that he has stocks of illegal weapons.

But Mr de Villepin appeared to suggest France could not support the tests because of an implied deadline: "It's not about giving a few more days to Iraq before resorting to force but about resolutely advancing through peaceful disarmament," he said.

Germany, one of the 10 rotating security council members which has a vote but no veto, had earlier signalled its opposition to a six-test resolution. Gerhard Schröder's national security adviser, Bernd Muetzelburg, said the UK plan was not a real compromise because it still "basically gives an authorisation for war".

Russia, which like France wields a veto as one of the permanent five UN security council members, said it would need a draft resolution on the table before it would decide whether to accept it or nor. "We are not talking about the vote yet, we are still discussing proposals from different nations, and it is still unclear what resolution we are talking about," said Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister.

The US State Department was last night claiming to be confident that it had secured four of the six wavering votes. The plan is to table the new resolution the minute it wins over a fifth swing vote that would give the required majority of nine. That could mean a vote as early as today or any time up to Sunday.

If the resolution falls, the US could invade as early as next week. If it goes through, the war option would be delayed a little longer to allow Iraq time to comply with the six tests.

But if it was vetoed but supported by five of the waverers, Mr Blair could nevertheless claim the backing of a majority of security council states vital for his own political protection.

Failure to win the wavering security council votes will leave Downing Street endorsing a war without solid Labour or public backing.

Iraq's official media today revelled in the diplomatic turmoil surrounding the US-led war plans and gloated over Mr Blair's effort to table a compromise resolution.

"It is obvious that Bush and Blair have lost the round before it starts while we, along with well-intentioned powers in the world, have won it," the popular daily Babel, owned Saddam's son Uday, said in a front-page editorial.

"Blair's future is at stake now, and his downfall will be a harsh lesson in Britain's political history."

Baghdad meanwhile sought to disprove US claims that it is not disarming and showed journalists a drone aircraft that the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said could be used to spread weapons of mass destruction.

Made mostly of balsa wood the drone had two small wooden propellers attached to what looked like the engines of a garden strimmer. Brigadier Imad Abdul Latif, the project director for the drone, said Mr Powell had made a mistake.

"He knows very well that this aircraft is not used for what he said," he told reporters.

Officials of the Ibn Firnas State Company said the drone was a prototype designed for reconnaissance, jamming and aerial photography with a range of five miles. The controller has to be able to see the plane to control it.