The United States and Britain met strong opposition on Friday for plans to get U.N. endorsement to use military force against Iraq after U.N. arms inspectors said they had discovered no banned weapons. With France in the lead, most U.N. Security Council members were jittery about a conflict in the Middle East and hoped inspections would continue -- positions that dim prospects for a U.S.-British resolution without weeks of cajoling.

With France in the lead, most U.N. Security Council members were jittery about a conflict in the Middle East and hoped inspections would continue -- positions that dim prospects for a U.S.-British resolution without weeks of cajoling.

In response to the stiff resistance, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned the world not to be taken in by "tricks that are being played on us."

Threat of Force Must Remain: Powell

"The threat of force must remain," Powell told the council, which included 10 foreign ministers. "We cannot wait for one of these terrible weapons to turn up in our cities."

But Powell told reporters he would have to consult further on the resolution in Washington "and make a judgment in the not too distant future."

In contrast, British envoys said they thought a draft of the resolution would emerge next week. But Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock told reporters no date was set.

Blix Presents Balanced Assessment

Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, said in his crucial report that his teams had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

But he accused Baghdad of omissions in its arms declaration of deadly chemical agents and stocks of anthrax and said Iraq had tested a long-range missile in violation of Security Council resolutions.

However, unlike his critical report on Jan. 27, Blix refrained from sweeping conclusions, thereby emboldening those who want inspections to be expanded.

His counterpart in charge of nuclear arms teams, Mohamed ElBaradei, said his inspectors found no evidence Iraq had resumed its atomic weapons program but some areas still needed to be investigated.

France, Russia, Get Loud Applause

Breaking protocol, delegates sitting in the gallery of the Security Council chamber applauded first French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and then Russia's Igor Ivanov, prompting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, chairman of the meeting, to call for order.

There was no applause for Powell's comments.

"The use of force is not justified at this time. There is an alternative to war -- disarming Iraq through inspections," de Villepin said.

He proposed the 15-nation Security Council should hold another ministerial meeting on March 14 but both Powell and Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, who supported the U.S. position, said this would have to be decided after the arms inspectors give another report on March 1.

Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov agreed with de Villepin and said inspections were "moving in the right direction." He said "force can be resorted to, but only when all other remedies have been exhausted."

But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, citing conditions Iraq had put on its recent concessions to inspectors, said a peaceful solution would only be achieved if "we hold our nerve in the face of this tyrant" and "ensure that Iraq will face the serious consequences which we all decided would have to happen if Iraq's defiance did not end."

Several members, including Mexico and Pakistan, tried not to take sides but Chile appeared to back France's position.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said firmly, "Only when we go along the line of political settlement can we truly live up to the trust and hope the international community places in the Security Council."

Iraq Must Avoid Belittling the Questions

The most serious new violation by Iraq Blix presented on Friday was regarding its missiles, which he said Baghdad had tested beyond the range permitted by the Security Council. Blix said he would tell Iraq they were "proscribed," as well as some of the engines used in them.

A panel of six independent experts Blix organized this week determined that Iraq's Al Samoud 2 missile project is illegal because its range exceeds the 93-mile limit first set down in a 1991 Security Council resolution.

Blix said an arms declaration submitted by Iraq in December omitted data needed to account for past stocks of anthrax and the nerve agent VX as well as on long-range missiles.

"Although I can understand that it may not be easy for Iraq in all cases to provide the evidence needed, it is not the task of the inspectors to find it," he said. "Iraq itself must squarely tackle this task and avoid belittling the questions."

Blix Casts Doubt on Intelligence Submitted by Powell

Blix also cast doubt on some intelligence submitted by Powell. He questioned a section of Powell's evidence to the Security Council on Feb. 5, saying that two satellite images shown in his presentation did not prove that Iraq was clearing the site of forbidden munitions.

"The reported movement of munitions at the site could just as easily have been a routine activity as a movement of proscribed munitions in anticipation of an imminent inspection," Blix said.

Saddam Decrees a Ban on the Import & Production of WMD

Hours before the inspectors were due to speak, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein issued a decree banning the import and production of weapons of mass destruction, which will be followed up by legislation.

This had been requested by the council for a decade and recently by Blix, along with U-2 spy plane over flights and private interviews with scientists, which Baghdad has conceded.

5th Anglo-American Air Raid in a Week

As the inspectors reported, the U.S. military said aircraft taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked Iraqi missile systems in the southern "no-fly" zone on Friday, the fifth strike on Iraqi targets in a week.

Financial Markets Respond Positively to Blix Report

On financial markets, U.S. stocks added to gains in late morning trading with some traders speculating the Blix report meant war was not imminent but later ran out of steam as fears returned. Oil prices rose to two-year highs on war fears.

Other Key Developments Concerning Iraq

*_ Pope John Paul II told Aziz that the Vatican opposed war against Baghdad but insisted that Saddam has to demonstrate "concrete commitments" to disarm.

*_ Iraq decided to give up its turn to take up the rotating presidency of the world's top disarmament forum, a prospect that had prompted strong U.S. opposition, the United Nations said.

*_ Italy said it has given the United States permission to use its ports, highways and other infrastructure for any transport needs in a possible war against Iraq.

*_ Muslims from around the world prayed for peace and spoke out against U.S. plans for war before setting out for home from Mecca after their pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site.

*_ The U.N. refugee agency said war could result in 600,000 people fleeing for the border, creating a crisis that could cost the international community Dlrs 60 million in the first week alone.

*_ Inspection teams returned to Iraq's al-Muthanna chemical weapons installation, where they have been destroying artillery shells and neutralizing four plastic containers filled with mustard gas. They also visited a mineral water plant.

*_ The U.S. government expelled an Iraqi journalist who covers the United Nations for the official Iraqi News Agency, saying he is "harmful" to the security of the United States, the journalist and U.S. officials said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Dr. Hans Blix, chairman of the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission, addresses the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters, February 14, 2003. (Peter Morga