HIGHLIGHTS: Bush Challenges UN to Disarm Iraq & Warns He Stands Ready to Act Unilaterally if it Doesn't||Iraq Warns Bush Would Set the Region on Fire if he Attacked||Allies Welcome Washington's Willingness to Work with UN & Remain Silent on Bush's 'Regime Change' Policy||Qatar Warns War Would Endanger Region & Arab League is Hopeful|| STORY: Washington's allies on Thursday welcomed President Bush's plan to work with the United Nations to disarm Iraq and avoided comment on the possibility that the United States might act alone if Iraq does not allow U.N. arms inspections to resume.

Bush told the U.N. General Assembly that unspecified action against Iraq would be inevitable unless the United Nations forced Baghdad to eliminate weapons of mass destruction .

If Iraq failed to comply with U.N. resolutions, the Baghdad government would lose power, he said. Iraq's ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, dismissed the speech as a long series of fabrications motivated by "revenge, oil, personal ambitions and the security of Israel."

But U.S. allies, alarmed in recent months by the Bush administration's rhetoric, saw a glimmer of hope that a tough stand by the United Nations could avert war by persuading the Iraqis to allow the inspections.

U.S. officials have either cast doubt on the value of seeking U.N. support or suggested it might be useful merely as a prelude to unilateral U.S. action.

Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin of France, one of the five permanent Security Council members, said: "The president ... stressed the central role the United Nations must play and this is a very good thing. We appreciate this."

Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said: "The world community accepts his (Bush's) declaration of support for the United Nations with a great deal of enthusiasm."

Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, whose country is one of 10 other Security Council members, told reporters: "What was positive in his speech is that future action is rooted in the United Nations."

Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said: "President Bush has clearly decided to take the issue once again back to the Security Council. That in our view is an important decision."

Diplomats at the United Nations said they expected talks on a Security Council resolution to begin in small groups and informally toward the end of next week.

Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she agreed with Bush that all Security Council resolutions on Iraq must be implemented immediately and without conditions.

European Union external relations commissioner Chris Patten said: "The president has brought this back to the United Nations ... We want to see multilateralism as an effective way of dealing with problems, not as an excuse for failing."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he hoped the United Nations could solve the problem of Iraq.

Germany, one of Washington's least supportive allies on Iraq, said it was worried about the cohesion of the coalition against terrorism, the stability of the Middle East and the lack of plans for Iraq after a change of government.

Australia declined to say what it would do if the United States asked it to take part in an attack on Iraq.

Israel, a U.S. ally which favors an attack on Iraq but is vulnerable to accusations it has violated U.N. resolutions and is reported to have nuclear weapons itself, said Bush had left the door open to another U.N. attempt to make Iraq comply.

IRAQ ENVOY: BUSH TALK HAS NO CREDIT

Iraq's U.N. ambassador criticized President Bush's speech to the General Assembly on Thursday, saying it lacked credibility and was motivated by revenge and political ambition.

"He chooses to deceive the world and his own people by the longest series of fabrications that have ever been told by a leader of a nation," Ambassador Mohamed al-Douri said.

Al-Douri said: "We don't care about the position of the United States. If they are threatening, if they would attack, certainly we will be there for defending ourselves."

Al-Douri said further Iraqi reaction would come when Iraq had its turn at addressing the assembly later in the week.

It was the first official Iraqi reaction to Bush's speech. 

In Iraq, officials and ordinary citizens alike reacted furiously to Bush's speech.

"It is a collection of lies which aim at blackmailing public opinion in order to commit new American aggression against Iraq," Saad Qasim Hammoudi, a senior Iraqi ruling Baath Party official, told Reuters.

Adil al-Badawi, a physician, said: "Oh my God. Bush what do you want? Are you crazy? What are you saying? Iraq is the enemy of the world? America is the enemy of the world."

QATAR'S FOREIGN MINISTER: WAR WILL ENDANGER AREA

A key U.S. ally in the Gulf warned Thursday against a unilateral war in Iraq, saying Saddam Hussein could be persuaded to allow weapons inspectors without using force.

Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, said a war in Iraq would destabilize the entire Middle East.

"The United Nations has to play a role," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, speaking in Washington. "We have to work, all of us, to make an effort with the United Nations to say exactly what they want with Iraq."

Sheikh Hamad spoke at the Brookings Institution think.

Sheikh Hamad said the United States had not asked Qatar to use al-Udeid for a strike on Iraq. He declined to say whether Qatar would agree to such a request.

"If they ask us, we will consider it carefully," he said.

Sheikh Hamad said he met with Saddam several weeks ago and thought the Iraqi leader would allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq.

"I will not be surprised if he accepts inspectors to be in Baghdad," Sheikh Hamad said. "He's looking for a guarantee that if he lets inspectors in, he will not be hit militarily until the inspectors say what they have to say."

Although some Bush administration officials argue that removing Saddam would advance the cause of democracy in the Arab world, Sheikh Hamad scoffed at the idea.

"Do you think Saddam is the only obstacle for democracy in our region? I think you know the answer," he said.

Qatar is moving toward democracy and plans to hold parliamentary elections next year, Sheikh Hamad said. Part of that move toward democracy is guaranteeing freedom of expression in Qatar, and the state-funded Al Jazeera television network is part of that, Sheikh Hamad said.

He defended the network against charges that it promotes radical Islam. The network's news operation has served as a conduit for videos and other statements released by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

"It's only six years old. It needs time to settle," Sheikh Hamad said of the network. "There are many mistakes that I see, but these mistakes are not made on purpose."

ARAB LEAGUE HOPEFUL

Arab leaders expressed hope Thursday that "catastrophes" could still be avoided

A Palestinian minister echoed the fury out of Baghdad, accusing the United States of double standards while a Lebanese member of parliament said Washington's position had not changed and military action was unavoidable.

But Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, speaking to reporters at the U.N. headquarters after Bush's hawkish speech, was more hopeful.

Moussa welcomed Bush's appeal to the Security Council but asked for more time for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to talk to Iraq.

He said he himself would go to Iraq for talks and that he believed the Iraqis would allow U.N. inspectors to return.

PHOTO CAPTION

(Top L) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (R) speaks with Sheikh Hamed bin Jassem al-Thani, the Qatar foreign Minister, in Baghdad August 27, 2002. Photo by Reuters (Handout)

(Top R) Iraqi UN ambassador Mohamed al-Douri confers with a member of the Iraqi delegation after President Bush's address to the United Nations General Assembly Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

(Bottom L) U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 12. REUTERS/Win McNamee
- Sep 12 9:36 PM ET

(Bottom R) Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa (R) speaks to an assistant before the start of an Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Cairo, September 5, 2002. Photo by Mona Sharaf/Reuters
- Sep 05 9:13 AM