Washington: Branding Saddam Hussein as a "murderous tyrant" and "homicidal dictator", American President George W Bush has demanded that the Iraqi leader must disarm or face war by a US-led coalition.

"The time for denying, deceiving and delaying has come to an end. Saddam Hussein must disarm himself - or, for the sake of peace we will lead a coalition to disarm him," Bush said in a speech in Cincinnati on October 7 night.

He called upon the UN Security Council to pass a resolution requiring, among other things, the Iraqi "regime" to reveal and destroy, under UN supervision, all existing weapons of mass destruction.

"To ensure that we learn the truth, the regime must allow witnesses to its illegal activities to be interviewed outside the country, and these witnesses must be free to bring their families with them so they all (will be) beyond the reach of Saddam Hussein's terror and murder," he said.

Besides, inspectors must have access to any site, at any time, without pre- clearance, without delay, without exceptions, Bush demanded.

"In addition, Iraq must cease the persecution of its civilian population. It must stop all illicit trade outside the "Oil for Food Programme". It must release or account for all Gulf war personnel, including an American pilot, whose fate is still unknown," he said.

Indicating that he would drop his demand for regime change if these steps were taken, Bush said, "by taking these steps, and only by taking these steps, the Iraqi regime has an opportunity to avoid conflict".

"Unfortunately, at least so far, we have little reason to expect it. And that is why two administrations, mine and President Clinton's have stated that regime change in Iraq is the only certain means of removing a great danger to our nation," Bush said.

In a call to Hussein's Generals not to follow any orders from their leader to use weapons of mass destruction in the event of a war, Bush warned that if they did not refuse orders to use these weapons, "they must understand that all war criminals will be pursued and punished".

The evidence indicates Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons programme, he said. "Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen", his nuclear holy warriors.

"Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear programme in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high- strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons," Bush said.

"If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy or steal an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball," he said, "it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year. And if we allow that to happen, a terrible line would be crossed. Saddam Hussein would be in position to blackmail anyone who opposes his aggression."

"He (Hussein) would be in a position to dominate the Middle East. He would be in a position to threaten America. And Saddam Hussein would be in a position to pass nuclear technology to terrorists," he said.

Confronting the threat posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror, Bush asserted.

PTI