France and Germany have spoken out against war with Iraq at a meeting of the UN Security Council, just hours before the American deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq expires.
Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, said his country "emphatically rejects the impending war" — a sentiment echoed by his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin, who said the use of force would only exacerbate international terrorism.
Their remarks came as US-led combat troops in the Gulf, numbering about 150,000, took up battle positions for an invasion of Iraq.
Huge convoys have moved across the Kuwaiti desert towards Iraq, ahead of President George W Bush's 0100 GMT Thursday deadline.
Officials have told the BBC's Paul Adams at US military headquarters in Qatar that no action will be taken before the deadline has passed, unless the Iraqi forces attack first.
Mr Bush met his war council on Wednesday and sent formal notification of his justification for military action to the US Congress.
The three-paragraph statement outlining the president's rationale for war says diplomacy has failed to protect America's security and links the Iraqi regime with the al-Qaeda network, blamed for the 11 September attacks.
The letter also points out that the US constitution gives the president authority to take "necessary actions" against organisations or nations involved in those attacks.
Mentally preparing
The White House has said it hopes the war with Iraq will be swift, but has warned the American public to "be prepared for loss of life".
"Americans ought to be prepared for the importance of disarming Saddam Hussein to protect the peace," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Earlier, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said Washington was lying to US troops about the number of casualties they could expect.
"To say that invading Iraq will be like a picnic is a stupid idea ... they are [sending them to] definite death," he warned.
Pentagon officials have indicated that hostilities will begin with an intense air campaign, followed very quickly by a ground assault.
Heavy artillery and infantry have been moved forward despite a fierce sandstorm in the deserts of northern Kuwait, which has drastically reduced visibility and grounded helicopters.
Colonel Chris Vernon, a spokesman for the British army in Kuwait, told the BBC that some of the 20,000-strong UK forces were now in a position to launch an attack when the order came.
However, the Pentagon has denied a report from Kuwaiti security sources that US troops had passed into the demilitarised zone that straddles the Kuwait-Iraq border.
In other developments:
• Germany expels four Iraqi diplomats for activities considered "incompatible with their diplomatic status".
• The US military says its aircraft have dropped nearly two million leaflets on Iraq — their biggest drop to date
• US warplanes bomb Iraqi positions after aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone are fired on by Iraqi forces
• Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz appears on state television to refute rumours that he has fled the country or been killed.
• The Turkish Government is asking parliament to allow US planes to use its air space, with a vote expected on Thursday
Hospitals readied
The BBC's Andrew Gilligan in Baghdad says the city is braced for war — electricity supplies are already starting to fail and, as night falls, people are bunkered in their homes.
Residents have stocked up on emergency supplies, businesses are closed, windows boarded up — the only traffic is large transport lorries, which our correspondent says are used to deploy troops and equipment.
US aims for swift war
Hospitals have been clearing beds to accommodate casualties from what Saddam Hussein has described as "the last battle".
Pregnant women have been crowding surgeries demanding caesarean operations so they can give birth before any bombing or invasion begins.
Nonetheless the Iraqi Government remains defiant — our correspondent says an emergency parliamentary session turned into a rowdy pro-Saddam rally, in which MPs flatly rejected the US ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to go into exile, dubbing it "unthinkable".
Parliamentary speaker, Saadoun Hammadi, said the Iraqi leader "will be in front of everyone. He will fight and guide our country to victory".
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2865785.stmE-mail this article