HIGLIGHTS|| A U.S. Force of About 150,000 Personnel to Be Ready for War By Late February|| The Largest Seaborn British Force Since the Falklands War Heads to the Gulf|| British Officials Now Say War Against Iraq is More Likely than Not|| UN Weapons Inspectors Conduct Second Air Inspection Since Arrival in Iraq Last Month|| US Military Begin an e-Mail Campaign Urging Iraqis to Turn Against Saddam|| Turkish Premier in Saudi Arabia to Discuss Iraq Crisis|| Opec Ministers to Meet in Vienna to Prevent a Price Shock in Case of War|| STORY: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to meet President Bush after U.N. arms inspectors present a key report on Iraq late this month amid European anxiety to avoid any hasty U.S. move to war, sources said on Saturday.

Bush's Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was reported to have signed an order overnight deploying another 27,000 troops to the Gulf, setting the stage for a U.S. force of about 150,000 personnel to be ready for war against Iraq by late February.

While Blair has been Bush's staunchest ally on Iraq, the British premier has urged that U.N. inspectors searching for any Iraqi chemical, biological or nuclear weapons be given time to do their job.

The inspectors, who say they have found no "smoking gun" to challenge Iraq's denial it has any banned weapons, are to present a report to the U.N. Security Council on January 27. Blair is to hold talks with Bush on Iraq afterwards at the end of the month, sources familiar with U.S.-British planning said.

Top officials in Europe have spoken out against a rush to war on the basis of inconclusive weapons inspections, which resumed in late November after a four-year hiatus.

Blair, who the sources said could yet change the date of his trip to Washington, told his cabinet on Thursday that "weapons inspectors in Iraq must be given the time and space they need to do the job," his spokesman said.

BRITISH TASK FORCE

The flagship of Britain's navy, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, set sail on Saturday for possible war against Iraq, heading the largest British seaborne force since the 1982 Falklands War.

The London-based Sunday Observer newspaper quoted unidentified officials from Blair's office as saying military action against Iraq was "more likely than not."

Blair had a private dinner on Saturday in Hanover with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose stark opposition to a U.S.-led war against Iraq angered Washington but helped him narrowly win reelection in September.

U.N. arms inspectors flew by helicopter to an oil facility west of Baghdad on Saturday, the second aerial inspection since they resumed work in Iraq on November 27 following a tough November 8 Security Council resolution requiring Baghdad to cooperate with them or face serious consequences.

SKIRMISH IN CYBERSPACE

Detailing a U.S.- Iraqi skirmish in cyberspace, U.S. defense officials said the U.S. military had begun an e-mail campaign urging military and civilian leaders in Iraq to turn against Saddam and reveal the location of any banned weapons.

The e-mails in Arabic urge Iraqis not to follow orders to use chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, to identify where they are located by signals or render the weapons ineffective.

Iraqi authorities have blocked the e-mail service access in an apparent attempt to stop the messages from spreading inside the country, visitors said.

On the diplomatic front, Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks on the Iraq crisis.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have publicly opposed a war against Iraq and both have so far declined to grant Washington permission to use bases on their territory for military strikes.

In Vienna, OPEC producers prepared for emergency talks on Sunday that will decide how far to open the oil taps to prevent a price shock as war looms in Iraq.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi workers watch as U.N. weapons inspectors wearing protective suits and gas masks leave a medical appliance company on the outskirts of Baghdad, January 11, 2003. (Peter Andrew