Beirut: Iraq is ready to respond to any US attack "within the hour", Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said on October 11 in the first official Iraqi reaction to a Congressional green light for US President George W Bush to use force against Baghdad.

"I am not surprised by this vote, and we will confront these plans of aggression," Aziz said of the joint resolution adopted in Washington by US House of Representatives and Senate.

It authorises Bush to use force "in a manner necessary and appropriate to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq and enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq".

Asked when an attack might come, Aziz told reporters in the Lebanese capital, "We are not the ones who decide that, but we are ready to respond to it within the hour."

The Iraqi official insisted his country "poses no threat to anyone, not to countries of the region nor to the United States".

"If this aggression takes place ... the consequences will be disastrous for everyone, even those offering facilities and services to the US aggressors," he said, referring to Arab allies of Washington.

Aziz called for Arab leaders "to face up to the aggression through all diplomatic and other means", warning that a war would harm all countries of the region.

"The hold on power of Arab leaders will also be in danger if the United States launches a war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein," he warned.