Secretary of State Colin Powell was expected to say on Thursday that Iraq's weapons dossier contains omissions that amount to a violation of a U.N. disarmament resolution, U.S. officials said. It was unclear whether Powell would also say that Iraq was in "material breach" of the resolution, officials said, but they insisted this would not be an immediate trigger for war.

They also said the U.S. military had been told to notify up to 50,000 troops that they may be sent to the Gulf early next year as the United States builds its forces in the region.

The White House said Powell would issue Washington's response on Thursday to Iraq's 12,000-page arms disclosure, which U.S. officials said had failed to disclose suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs as required.

Powell and the U.S ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, were to announce the U.S. position after chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix makes a presentation on the Iraqi declaration to the 15-member U.N. Security Council, the officials said. Powell will be in Washington and Negroponte in New York.

U.N. weapons inspectors are expected to tell the Security Council they have questions about gaps in Iraq's new arms declaration but refrain from giving a negative assessment, diplomats said.

Blix, the chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, and Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, are scheduled to brief the council for the first time since Baghdad submitted its weapons document on Dec. 7 and arms inspections resumed in Iraq last month.

Powell told reporters he was not optimistic Iraq would cooperate with demands to disarm but the United States would work through the Security Council on deciding what to do in the next few weeks.

Powell's comments suggested the United States did not for the moment intend to take any unilateral steps.

"Our analysis of the Iraqi declaration to this point ... shows problems with the declaration, gaps, omissions and all of this is troublesome," Powell said at a news conference.

"Iraq was given an opportunity in U.N. Resolution 1441 to cooperate with the international community to stop deceiving the world with respect to its weapons of mass destruction," Powell said.

WASHINGTON PLEDGES TO SHARE ANALYSIS WITH OTHER UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

"We are not encouraged that they have gotten the message or will cooperate, based on what we have seen so far in the declaration, but we will stay within the U.N. process ... and we will share our analysis of the declaration with other members of the council and discuss how to move forward in the weeks ahead," he added.

Under the Security Council resolution adopted last month, Iraq was given one last chance to disarm or face "serious consequences" widely expected to lead to war.

Iraq denies it has any banned weapons programs.

Whether to find Iraq in "material breach" of its obligations -- a possible harbinger of war -- was being debated by President Bush's top advisers when the National Security Council team met on Wednesday, aides said.

But aides suggested Iraq would not be cited for material breach for now because it could undercut the U.N. weapons inspection effort.

The United States is building a powerful military force in the Gulf region in case Bush, who has said he would like to see Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ousted, decides to go to war.
Officials said Bush had made no final decision on the preliminary plan to send 50,000 troops to the region, but the United States was closely watching the U.N. arms inspections in Iraq.
As the White House declared its reservations, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there was widespread skepticism about Iraq's weapons dossier.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the declaration had "obvious omissions" and Saddam's statement that Iraq had no banned weapons would not be believed.
"This will fool nobody," Straw said.

Shipping sources told Reuters the British military had chartered a large vessel to carry heavy armor to the Gulf in the New Year and was looking for two more vessels for a military deployment.

"What we are doing is preparing in the event of military action being necessary," said Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon.

FRANCE INSISTS ONLY UN SECURITY COUNCIL COULD DECIDE ON 'MATERIAL BREACH' QUESTION

But in contrast to the hard-line comments of the United States and Britain, France repeated its position that only the U.N. Security Council could decide what action to take if weapons inspectors now in Iraq find Baghdad is in "material breach" of the U.N. resolution.

On international markets, oil and gold prices rose to fresh peaks as U.S. signals that Bush would declare Iraq in violation of the resolution deepened fears of war. Stocks slumped on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, warplanes from the U.S.-British operation patrolling southern Iraq fired on air defenses after Iraqi forces moved a mobile radar system into a "no-fly" zone, the U.S. military said.

In Iraq, U.N. inspectors, starting the fourth week of their hunt for Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction, searched at least nine sites.

PHOTO CAPTION

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks during Prime Minister's Question Time at the House of Commons in London, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002. At left is Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and right is Britain's Defense Minister Geoff Hoon. Blair, told legislators Wednesday that Britain would give its formal response to the declaration after Christmas. (AP Photo via APT