HIGHLIGHTS: In London, More Than 100,000 Protesters Chant Slogans against 'Bomber Bush, Bomber Blair' ||Tens of Anti-War Protesters Take to the Streets in Rome & Sydney||Proposed Anglo-American UN Draft Resolutions would Give Iraq 7 Days to Give Inspectors Access to all Sites of Weapons of Mass Destruction & 30 Days to Destroy them or Else|| STORY: Iraq Saturday rejected a draft hard-line U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution on arms inspections as President Bush's drive against Baghdad hit snags after a week of lobbying at home and abroad.

Iraq threatened a "fierce war" if attacked and dismissed the U.S.-proposed resolution, backed by Britain, requiring Baghdad to comply with tough new arms inspection rules or face military action.

Iraq's defiant rejection came amid a U.S. and British diplomatic campaign to persuade other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- France, Russia and China -- to overcome grave concerns and back the proposal designed to rid Iraq of any nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

Bush, whose avowed policy of "regime change" in Iraq means toppling President Saddam Hussein, has pledged to act without U.N. approval if necessary. Saturday, he made a pitch in his weekly radio broadcast to Americans, saying Iraq posed a grave threat that must be stopped.

RUSSIA & FRANCE REMAIN UNCONVINCED OF ANGLO-AMERICAN VIEWS ON IRAQ

"The danger to our country is grave and it is growing," he said.

"The dangers we face will only worsen from month to month and year to year. To ignore these threats is to encourage them -- and when they have fully materialized, it may be too late to protect ourselves and our allies," he said.

Seeking to press the U.S. case, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman met Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Moscow Saturday.

He failed to change Russia's stance.

Moscow stood firm in calling for the rapid return to Iraq of U.N. arms inspectors, with the U.S. envoy urging Russia to back the draft U.S. Security Council resolution.

"Our position is that U.N. weapons inspectors should return to Iraq as quickly as possible," Ivanov said in televised comments. "The necessary conditions for this exist. But we are prepared to look carefully at the position of all the members of the U.N. Security Council."

Ivanon steered clear of criticizing the new resolution after 90 minutes of talks, but said Russian experts were discussing it with U.S. and British officials.

Grossman appeared to make little headway on the issue in Paris Friday and Russian leaders have said Iraq's agreement to let U.N. arms inspectors return is sufficient to avoid any use of force.

'BOMBER BUSH BOMBER BLAIR'

In a bid to persuade China, Britain has sent officials to Beijing but itself faced protests at home. Waving anti-war banners and chanting slogans against "Bomber Bush and Bomber Blair," tens of thousands of Britons joined a big peace rally in London to oppose a military strike on Iraq.

The United States, Britain, Russia, France and China are the five permanent members of the Security Council with veto rights.

PROTESTS IN ROME

In Rome, thousands of flag-waving, whistle-blowing demonstrators took to the streets calling for peace with Iraq in a rally organized by the hard left Communist Refoundation party.

Accusing Bush of war-mongering, the crowd -- estimated at between 50,000 and 100,000 -- snaked its way through the heart of ancient Rome before holding a rally in a city-center square.

In Australia, about 1,000 people marched in Sydney to protest against possible war with Iraq and violence against Palestinians in the Middle East.

Under threat of force, Washington wants radically to change the ground rules for U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, demanding access to any site and protecting inspectors with a security force, according to those familiar with the U.N. draft.

The proposed Security Council resolution would declare Iraq has already violated current U.N. demands and authorize military action if Baghdad fails to comply by accounting for its arms.

The document is to be introduced next week, while the U.S. Senate, controlled by Democrats, is expected to begin a debate on a resolution sought by Bush on Iraq.

A spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac said France remained committed to a plan for two resolutions -- one on readmitting inspectors and a second providing for tough measures only if they encountered difficulty.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with top officials in Iran, which opposes any U.S.-led military strike against Baghdad.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Jordanian dance troupe joins anti-U.S. demonstrators holding a picture of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in front of the U.N. Headquarters in Baghdad, September 28, 2002. Iraq's vice president said that Baghdad would not accept the new rules that the United States wants to impose on U.N. weapons inspections. (Faleh Kheiber/Reuters)