Threatened with a March 17 deadline to disarm, Iraq scrapped more of its banned missiles on Saturday in a process Washington dismisses as too little, too late to save it from war. An attack on Baghdad could come even sooner than March 17, the date set down in a draft U.N. resolution which is the subject of frenetic diplomatic haggling this weekend. If the resolution fails to win the backing of the U.N. Security Council, Washington and its allies might well go to war earlier.

Despite making 11th-hour concessions, Iraq maintained its defiant rhetoric. President Saddam Hussein and top officials issued a statement demanding the Council denounce the United States and Britain as "liars" and lift sanctions on Iraq.

More than 200,000 troops are in the Gulf and ready to strike. Gates wide enough to allow a column of tanks to pass are being installed in the fortified fence between Kuwait and Iraq.

Czech and Slovak troops with vehicles which can detect chemical or biological agents began patrolling Kuwait in case of an attack from Iraq. The soldiers have equipment to decontaminate up to 1,000 people per hour.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain said on Saturday war could still be avoided but insisted it was only the tens of thousands of Western troops massing on Iraq's borders that had wrung concessions from Baghdad.

"The only reason we have got any cooperation at all out of Iraq is because of the credible threat of force," he said.

Straw told the BBC he believed the draft resolution giving Iraq until March 17 to disarm could get through the Security Council, despite bitter opposition from some members. He called on the 15 nations to "face up to our responsibilities."

Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Friday the vote would take place next week. His U.N. ambassador, John Negroponte, told reporters it could come "from Tuesday onward."

TRIPLE VETO THREAT

France, Russia and China, who hold veto power in the Council, maintained their opposition to any new resolution which would implicitly or explicitly authorize military action.

Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov hinted on Saturday Russia might use its veto. "Russia will do everything not to allow this resolution in the U.N. Security Council," he said.

The revised draft resolution reads: "Iraq will have failed to take the final opportunity...unless on or before March 17, 2003, the Council concludes that Iraq has demonstrated full, unconditional, immediate and active cooperation with its disarmament obligations."

Modifying the resolution by extending the deadline for Iraqi compliance was intended to win over undecided nations Chile, Pakistan, Mexico, Angola, Cameroon and Guinea.

Pakistan and Angola expressed immediate skepticism. Chile's Socialist President Ricardo Lagos said on Saturday the March 17 deadline was too close.

Analysts say U.S. promises of economic aid to the "undecided" may succeed where argument has so far failed.

President Bush has vowed to take military action with or without U.N. approval. But going to war without U.N. endorsement would inflame a global anti-war movement and threaten the political future of important allies, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair .

Lobbying of Council members by Washington is expected to be intense over the weekend and early next week. In an effort to prevent the United States winning over the minimum nine votes needed for adoption of a resolution, France is doing the same. Villepin plans quick trips to Guinea, Cameroon and Angola.

NO TOOTHPICKS

The Security Council heard presentations from chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei on Friday.

ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, disputed U.S. assertions that Iraq had attempted to buy uranium in Niger, saying the documents used by Washington to support its contention were fraudulent.

Blix faulted Iraq for moving too slowly and not handing over enough documentation on past weapons programs, but said it had carried out a "substantial measure of disarmament" by starting to scrap al-Samoud 2 missiles, whose range exceeds U.N. limits.

"We are not watching the breaking of toothpicks. Lethal weapons are being destroyed," he said.

Challenging Blix, Powell said: "I know these are not toothpicks, but real missiles. But the problem is, we won't know how many missiles there are, how many toothpicks there are."

Iraq began crushing six more missiles on Saturday, continuing a process Powell earlier this week called "too little, too late."

Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, poured scorn on the deadline. "So they will give us only 10 days to give up all we have? We have to dig all of our desert? Really, this is nonsense. We are doing our utmost. We can't do more," he said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi soldiers stand in front of a painting of President Saddam Hussein outside the al-Taji base, north of Baghdad March 8, 2003. The United States, Britain and Spain want the U.N. Security Council to deliver an ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to give up banned weapons by March 17. (Akram Saleh/Reuter