HIGHLIGHTS|| France Urges UN Security Council Members to Give UN Weapons Inspectors Data|| EU to Send Mediation Mission on Iraq to Arab Countries|| American Jets Raid a Radar Site in Southern Iraq|| US Soldiers Begin Arriving in Kuwait|| UK Minister Warns Saddam of Consequences|| War of Words Between Baghdad & Washington Continues||STORY: U.N. arms inspectors are expected to report on Thursday that Iraq has still failed to answer key questions, providing possible fresh ammunition for Washington's case for war.

U.N. experts said on the eve of the report to the United Nations Security Council that Iraq had not cleared up issues about biological and chemical programs, including 6,000 missing poison gas bombs.

But Hans Blix, in charge of chemical, biological and ballistic arms inspections, and International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Mohamed ElBaradei have made clear their teams have not been in Iraq long enough to uncover any weapons of mass destruction.

A fuller report by Blix and ElBaradei on January 27 is widely seen as possible showdown time for war if Iraq fails to satisfy the weapons inspectors.

The United States and Britain have already said there were holes in Iraq's arms declaration to the United Nations in December, and Washington has gone further in saying the gaps put Baghdad in material breach of U.N. resolutions.

Other countries, especially in the Muslim world, have opposed any military action unless hard evidence emerges that Iraq has banned weapons.

Washington and London claim they have intelligence Iraq has such weapons and have threatened war unless Baghdad comes clean. Iraq denies having any nuclear, biological or chemical arms.

France Urges UN Security Council Members To Give U.N. Weapons Inspectors Data

France asked Security Council members Wednesday to deliver "specific information" about Iraqi weapons programs to U.N. inspectors - a request aimed at the United States and Britain who claim they have evidence of clandestine Iraqi programs.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said his government wants the council to implement a resolution adopted Nov. 8 which requests all countries to provide information on Iraq's "prohibited programs" and recommend sites to be visited and Iraqis to be interviewed.
He made the request on the eve of an undated assessment by the inspectors to the council. They are expected to state that no evidence of Iraqi nuclear, chemical or biological weapons has been uncovered since inspections resumed on Nov. 25.
EU To Send Mediation Mission To A Number of Arab Countries

As the world watched for clues on how close fingers were to triggers for war, EU president Greece said on Wednesday it would launch a peace mission, President Bush met his top general and Iraq fired new salvoes of defiant words.

Greece's announcement that it would lead a European Union mission to Arab states surprised other members of the bloc whose attitudes on Iraq vary widely -- from staunch British support for Washington to Germany's refusal to get involved in combat.

The trip was due to start around the time of the U.N. Security Council's January 27 meeting on Iraq.

There was no immediate response to the Greek initiative in Washington but in London a Foreign Office official said any effort to get Iraq to honor U.N. resolutions was welcome.

"On the trip we want to see if we can have a positive development on Iraq," Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told Reuters TV, adding he would urge Arab nations to play a bigger role in mediating between the United States and Iraq.

"As EU president we have decided we cannot just wait for things to happen," a close Papandreou aide told Reuters.

A Greek Foreign Ministry official said the mission was likely to be in late January or early February and would take in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as meetings with Palestinian and Israeli officials.

U.S. Planes Strike Southern Iraqi Radar

In Washington, the US military said, U.S. warplanes bombed two Iraqi anti-aircraft radars that threatened pilots patrolling the southern no-fly zone.

According to the source, the planes used precision-guided weapons to target the mobile radar equipment Monday near Al Amarah, about 165 miles southeast of Baghdad. A U.S. Central Command statement added that the air strike happened at about 3:30 p.m. EST Monday.

It was the second air strike this year by American planes patrolling the southern no-fly zone, which was set up to prevent Saddam Hussein's government from attacking restive Shiite Muslims in the region. A strike on Saturday targeted three Iraqi air defense communications sites in the same general area as Monday's strike.

American planes also dropped leaflets in the Al Amarah area Sunday giving Iraqis the frequencies of U.S. propaganda radiobroadcasts.

U.S. and British warplanes patrol another no-fly zone in northern Iraq to protect minority Kurds.

U.S. Soldiers Begin Arriving in Kuwait

U.S. troop reinforcements landed Wednesday in Kuwait, part of the biggest buildup in the region since the Gulf War as Washington heightens pressure on Iraq to give up alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Military officials would not disclose the units or numbers of troops. But chartered jets have been leaving the United States since late Monday, and additional forces had arrived by Wednesday, said Sgt. 1st Class David Dismukes of the U.S. Army's public affairs office.

Soldiers from two brigades of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which specializes in desert warfare, began leaving their Georgia base Monday after receiving orders to join a brigade already in Kuwait.

A chartered civilian jetliner landed Wednesday at the Kuwaiti air force base next to Kuwait International Airport. Later, a convoy of troops in four buses escorted by machine-gun equipped Humvees and Kuwaiti police cars left the airport. Its ultimate destination was unknown.

U.K. Minister Warns Iraq of Consequences

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon on Wednesday warned Saddam Hussein to fully comply with U.N. resolutions or bear the consequences.

Hoon issued his warning after meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and military chief Gen. Hilmi Ozkok - apparently lobbying for British use of Turkish bases in case of a war against Iraq.

Hoon thanked Turkey, which hosts U.S. and British warplanes that patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.

The United States - a close Turkish ally - is lobbying Turkey for use of its bases, and Turkey is expected to comply. There is, however, less support in Turkey for allowing in British soldiers.

Many Turks harbor a distrust of Britain, which helped engineer the break up of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and seized former Ottoman lands, including Iraq, after the conflict.

Gonul immediately denied he and Hoon discussed basing British troops in Turkey for an Iraq operation.

War of Words Continues

In a now daily war of words between Baghdad and Washington, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein warned the United States it might have superiority in the air but the American GI's 21st century kit would count for nothing in face-to-face fighting.

Saddam's only concern seemed to be ensuring his troops had enough to eat amid tight Iraqi food rations.

"It is enough to have grenades, launchers, a loaf of bread, a drink of water and a rifle. Then, counting on God, Iraq will be safe...unless the fighter says he has no bread or no water to drink," Saddam said in an address to militia fighters.

PHOTO CAPTION

United Nations experts make their way towards the al-Qaim phosphate plant, 249 miles east of the capital Baghdad, close to the border with Syria January 7, 2003. The experts hunting for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction used helicopters for the first time to reach their destination since launching inspections last November 27. (Pool via Reut