The diplomatic battle dividing the West intensified on Sunday as the United States and France each scrambled to woo undecided Security Council members before a key U.N. vote on war in Iraq . French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin was to begin a whistle-stop tour of Guinea, Cameroon and Angola to persuade them to reject a U.S.-backed draft resolution setting a March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm.

A defeat of the resolution alone would be unlikely to prevent war. Washington has repeatedly said it will lead a "coalition of the willing" against Iraq without U.N. approval if necessary.

But U.N. authorization would be of huge value to governments of U.S. allies in placating public misgivings about war -- especially in Britain, whose deployment of 45,000 troops to take part is by far the biggest after the Pentagon's.

Most Britons would support war if it had U.N. backing but only 15 percent would without it, a poll showed on Sunday.

Newspapers said Prime Minister Tony Blair  faced a huge anti-war revolt among members of parliament in his Labour Party and threats of resignation by ministerial aides.

A resolution in the 15-member U.N. Security Council needs a minimum of nine votes for adoption and there must be no veto by any of the five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

So far, Paris appears ahead in the maneuvering. The United States can count on the support only of Britain, Spain and Bulgaria while seven Council members seem to oppose its draft, instead wanting arms inspectors to be given more time in Iraq.

Russia and China are also opposed to any new resolution that would implicitly or explicitly authorize military action.

U.S. CASH MAY SWING VOTES

Bush might dispatch his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice , to Russia to lobby President Vladimir Putin  in person. Secretary of State Colin Powell  could also be called upon to visit leaders with swing votes.

Analysts say U.S. promises of economic aid to the fence-sitting "swing votes" on the Security Council may succeed where argument has so far failed.

U.S. diplomats say the vote could come on Tuesday or later. A crucial factor behind the diplomatic moves is the military's desire to attack before soaring early summer temperatures in the Gulf make fighting in chemical and biological protection suits especially arduous.

Washington has brushed off French calls for heads of state to attend any further U.N. vote. But President Bush  appealed on Saturday to undecided Security Council members.

"Allowing a dangerous dictator to defy the world and build an arsenal for conquest and mass murder is not peace at all; it is pretence," Bush said.

Up to 800,000 people gathered in Indonesia's second city Surabaya on Sunday to pray for peace in the biggest anti-Iraq war rally yet in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Iraq scrapped more of its banned missiles on Sunday but Bush has dismissed the process as a "willful charade," accusing it of covertly making more al-Samoud 2 rockets.

Baghdad on Sunday accused the United States of mounting a campaign to get some 60 countries to expel Iraqi diplomats on the "baseless and unfounded" grounds that they threatened American interests and diplomatic institutions.

Washington has asked the German government to expel a number of Iraqi diplomats, the German foreign ministry said earlier.

U.N. STAFF WITHDRAW

U.N. military observers on the Iraq-Kuwait border said they were withdrawing civilian staff to Kuwait City for their own safety in view of a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq.

More than 200,000 U.S. and British troops are in the region and ready to strike. Gates wide enough to allow a column of tanks to pass are being installed in a fortified fence between Kuwait and Iraq. While Kuwait is the main launch pad for a ground invasion, other Arab countries are more quietly playing roles they prefer not to advertise to publics strongly opposed to war.

American and British special forces are already mounting missions in western Iraq, using eastern Jordan as a base.

Saudi Arabia's defense and aviation minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, said the kingdom was allowing U.S. troops to use two northern airfields near the Iraq border, but only for defense or to prepare for a flood of refugees.

World oil prices have risen sharply in recent days because of fears war will disrupt supplies. But on the Baghdad stock exchange, shares and turnover have soared this year.

"Anywhere in the world, when there is political or military turmoil, (prices) fall. But here there has been no fall," exchange director Subhi Azzawi said.

Brokers said prices were boosted by a belief that shares would hold up better than the Iraqi dinar in the case of war -- and an unspoken hope that however damaging the conflict, it could pave the way to a lifting of sanctions after 12 years.

PHOTO CAPTION

A US Army soldier of the 130th engineer brigade passes laundry hanging out to dry at Camp Virginia in the desert outside Kuwait City, March 9, 2003. U.S. and British warplanes sharply increased patrols over southern Iraq  ahead of a looming war. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)