Baghdad: Iraq on September 9 rejected as "sheer lies" US-British claims about its possession of weapons of mass destruction and capacity to acquire nuclear arms.

The allegations are "a Zionist-inspired pack of lies and fabrications", wrote the ruling Baath Party's mouthpiece 'Ath-Thawra', referring to promises by US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to release evidence on Iraq's acquisition of mass destruction weapons.

Bush and Blair, who met at the US Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland over the weekend, are seeking to rally international support for a US-led military offensive against Iraq aimed at overthrowing the regime of President Saddam Hussain.

"The little Bush and his subordinate Blair are banking on convincing the world of their lies," 'Ath-Thawra' said, predicting that they would "intensify their media blitz, step up pressures and multiply threats."

Later on September 9, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) said the development of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons was the "core objective" of the Baghdad regime.

Unveiling a report by the London-based think tank, IISS director John Chipman said the international community had a "pressing duty" to respond to the regime and its arsenal.

"War sanctions and inspections have reversed and retarded, but not eliminated, Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and long-range missile capacities," Chipman told reporters.

The official daily 'Al-Jumhuriya' said neither "the little Bush" nor "his obsequious subordinate Blair" seemed to have any of the information they were promising to publicize about Iraq's acquisition of mass destruction weapons and were merely singing the same old refrain.

The pair were "propagating lies" and plotting to "launch aggression" in response to "illusory threats", the paper said.

Top US officials said late on September 8 the growing threat from Iraq, including its alleged push to build nuclear weapons, hastened the need for action and that a decision on a military strike would be made within weeks.

However, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan vowed in remarks published on September 9 that Washington would encounter "defeat and humiliation" if it made good on its threats to attack Baghdad. The Iraqi people will stand as one against any "evil and terrorist US attack", and "any US aggression against Iraq will end in failure and humiliation," newspapers quoted him as telling visiting Turkish journalists.

Baghdad also sought to refute allegations that it had resumed activities at former nuclear sites by opening up one of the sites to public scrutiny.

Reporters were taken to al-Toweitheh, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) South East of Baghdad, site of the Tammuz (Osirak) Iraqi nuclear reactor destroyed by an Israeli air raid in 1981.

Several buildings on the same site were also demolished by UN arms inspectors before they pulled out of Iraq in December 1998.

"These buildings are either new or have been rebuilt but are being used in strictly civilian pursuits for humanitarian or economic purposes," said the foreign ministry official, Said Hassan al-Mussawi, who showed reporters several buildings.

He said the "new or rebuilt" premises house a pharmaceuticals factory, a mushroom farm, and architecture and environmental research offices.