Massive peace demonstrations at the weekend slowed the momentum of the US-led drive for war on Iraq, bolstering diplomatic bids for peaceful alternatives, as Europe grappled with deep divisions over the Baghdad crisis.Global anti-war protests on a scale not seen since the Vietnam War, coming after a majority of the UN Security Council backed further inspections in the bid to assure Iraq's disarmament, have left Washington increasingly isolated.

NATO, facing one of the most serious rifts in its 54-year history, launched fresh talks Sunday amid continuing rancour notably between the United States and France, which has opposed an accord along with Belgium and Germany.

And more acrimony is expected at an emergency summit here Monday of the sharply divided European Union, with the French- and German-led anti-war camp bolstered by the global protests.

Australia and Britain, the only two countries so far to deploy military personnel to the Gulf in support of the US build-up, both saw emphatic demonstrations of popular resistance to war on Iraq.

More than 400,000 people demonstrated across Australia again on Sunday, after London saw its biggest protest yet, with at least 750,000 filling Hyde Park on Saturday.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard showed no sign Sunday of wavering in his support for US President George W. Bush, saying: "This is not something where you read each opinion poll or you measure the number of people at demonstrations."

His British counterpart Tony Blair again also insisted action must be taken against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"If there are 500,000 on that march, that is still less than the number of people whose deaths Saddam has been responsible for. If there are one million, that is still less than the number of people who died in the wars he started," he said.

Possibly staking his career on the alliance with Washington, Blair added: "I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honour. But sometimes it is the price of leadership and the cost of conviction."

NATO chief George Robertson convened the Defence Planning Committee (DPC), on which France does not sit, in a new bid to end the crisis centred on US proposals to help Turkey in the case of war on Iraq.

France said it was hoping for a solution that would involve France staying out of military measures but reaffirming its political solidarity with Ankara.

As for the European Union, the split is so great, with Britain, Italy and Spain leading calls for war, that one senior EU diplomat said the talks Monday risked compounding the divisions.

"This could be a bomb that explodes in our faces," he said. Said another: "The best we can expect is that everybody at least smiles for the family photo."

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said Saturday that the Security Council might need a new resolution on Iraq but that war could still be averted, will address the summit, as current EU president Greece tries to keep the United Nations at the centre of the Union's response to the crisis.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou joined a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday, in the first non-Arab presence at such talks.

"It reflects the keenness of Arabs to consult with the EU in supporting international efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement to the Iraq crisis and avoid war," an Arab League official told AFP.

An emergency Arab summit will be held on February 27 to address the Iraq crisis, the state-run Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported, amid predictions that the Arab leaders would offer Saddam the chance to go into exile or face a US-led war.

US officials meanwhile declined to indicate their next move, with White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo saying Bush
"still hopes for a peaceful resolution, and that is up to Saddam Hussein."

Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated the administration was now uncertain it would seek a second resolution to approve use of force against Iraq.

But if Iraq has still fails to disarm, Washington is ready "to lead a coalition of nations that would be willing to join the United States in the disarmament," Powell said.

Official Iraqi media said the global anti-war demonstrations, coupled with Friday's Security Council session, were proof of US isolation.

"The administration has failed and the Security Council session was a defeat for the US logic of aggression in full view of all citizens of this world," said Ath-Thawra, mouthpiece of Saddam's ruling Baath party.

The United States has some 150,000 troops in place in the Gulf, bolstered by troops from Australia and Britain.

The New York Times, citing US intelligence and military sources, said Sunday that Iraq's war defense plans include blowing up dams, destroying bridges and igniting oil fields.

Analysts say the cost of war in Iraq may far exceed the more than 60 billion dollars spent on the 1991 Gulf War to force Saddam's troops out of Kuwait.

In Geneva, major aid agencies and 29 governments were to wrap up a two-day meeting Sunday on the possible impact of a conflict on civilians.

Meanwhile the London-based Al-Hayat Arabic newspaper on Sunday published a transcript of a new tape, alleged to be from terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, in which he vows to pursue his struggle against the United States.

The recording, available on the Internet at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/abudanan/message/1261, says Egypt, Iran, Sudan and Syria will be the next US targets after Iraq.

The 53-minute tape urges Muslims "to be convinced of the possibility of defeating the Americans", citing a list of attacks against US interests across the globe in recent years.

Bin Laden also lashes out at Saudi and other Gulf leaders, portraying them as US puppets comparable to US-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

PHOTO CAPTION

Effigies of US President Bush (R) and Australian Prime Minister Howa