Iraq said on Saturday it would not cooperate with any new United Nations Security Council resolution that runs contrary to an agreement reached with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "Iraq announces that it will not cooperate with a new resolution which is different to what was agreed upon with the (U.N.) secretary-general," said a statement issued following a meeting of top Iraqi leaders chaired by President Saddam Hussein and carried by the state-run Baghdad radio.

The United States and Britain have stepped up pressure on the Security Council to adopt a tough new Iraq resolution before any resumption of U.N. arms inspections.

British U.N. Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock met the 10 non-permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council late on Friday to lobby for a new resolution demanding unfettered access for the arms experts and spelling out the consequences if Baghdad failed to cooperate with teams searching for weapons of mass destruction as required by past council resolutions.

The inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq in December 1998, just before a U.S.-British bombing blitz designed to punish Baghdad for its alleged failure to cooperate with them.

The United States has threatened Baghdad with military action if it does not allow the unconditional return of U.N. inspectors.

RUSSIA EVASIVE OVER IRAQ RESOLUTION

US President George W Bush's attempts to win Russia's support for possible military action against Iraq appear so far to have made little headway.

After a meeting at the White House, Russia's foreign and defence ministers gave no indication that Mr Bush had persuaded them to change their minds and back a new United Nations Security Council resolution on Iraq.

Though Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said both Russia and the United States were "interested in the inspectors' work being effective and providing a clear answer to the question of whether there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or not", he did not mention a potential new resolution.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin told President Bush in a phone call the most important thing was to get the UN arms inspectors back to work quickly, now Iraq has agreed to their unconditional return.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqis walk in front of a large picture of President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, September 20, 2002. The U.S. and Britain stepped up pressure on the U.N. Security Council to adopt a tough new Iraq resolution before any resumption of U.N. arms inspections. Inspectors are expected in Iraq October 15 and plan a few early inspections designed to test Iraq's willingness to let them work freely. (Faleh Kheiber/Reuters