Saddam is duping the world: Bush

US President George W. Bush announced a diplomatic offensive on Wednesday to convince world leaders that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was ...

US President George W. Bush announced a diplomatic offensive on Wednesday to convince world leaders that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was duping them by developing weapons of mass destruction.

Shortly before Bush unveiled plans to press his case, shipping sources said the United States planned to ship tanks and heavy armour to West Asia this month, raising the spectre of a military attack on Iraq.

But the Iraqi strongman appeared unbowed by threats of war and pressure for him to let weapons inspectors in, reiterating that Iraq wanted an overall solution to the crisis with the US according to UN Security Council resolutions.

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Bush, meeting Congressional leaders at the White House, also said that at the appropriate time, he would ask Congress to approve any action on Iraq ‘‘necessary to deal with the threat’’.

Bush said he would meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday at Camp David to discuss the threat posed by Iraq and will be on the phone to leaders of China, Russia and France.

He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Monday in Detroit and said he would also make his case is an address to the UN General Assembly in New York on September 12, a year and a day since the WTC attacks.

‘‘I will first remind the United Nations that for 11 long years Saddam Hussein has sidestepped, crawfished, wheedled out of any agreement he made not to develop weapons of mass destruction,’’ Bush told reporters after meeting Congressional leaders on Iraq.

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‘‘And so I’m going to call upon the world to recognise that he is stiffing (duping) the world.’’

The White House said Bush had still made no decisions on whether to use the military to overthrow Saddam.

US allies, Muslim countries and many other nations are wary of any unilateral action, demanding a UN role in clarifying Iraq’s capabilities and intent, and in authorising any attack should that effort fail.

Saddam, quoted by Iraqi State Television, said Iraq wanted ‘‘a comprehensive solution that leads to the lifting of the sanctions according to the Security Council resolutions’’.

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‘‘As they (resolutions) are applied to us, they must be applied to them as there are reciprocal commitments,’’ Saddam said, a day after he vowed victory against the US.

‘‘Iraq has implemented all its commitments but they have not implemented their commitments.’’ Earlier, US Secretary of State Colin Powell described as ‘‘utter nonsense’’ Iraq’s long-standing denial that it has weapons of mass destruction. (Reuters)