United Nations: The United States has assembled teams of experts, analysts and scientists from Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other departments to quickly examine more than 12,000 pages of Iraq's declaration on the status of its weapons of mass destruction to find any sign that Baghdad has lied.

If such evidence were found, the US would in all probability advocate military action to "disarm" Iraq, which could lead to ousting of President Saddam Hussein.

Washington, which got the full unedited version of the report along with four other permanent members on December 9, would start the painstaking work of reviewing the document immediately as it has a very small window of only a few weeks if it wants to take military action.

Under pressure from the US, the United Nations (UN) Security Council early on December 9 reversed its decision that all Council members get the same material after inspectors had edited out parts that would give recipe or methods to produce weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

That would have meant several days' delay in Washington having a look at the material.

Though the American diplomats at the UN had agreed that all, including five permanent members, get the edited version, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was known to be unhappy with it.

To get the decisions reversed, the US has argued that since the five permanent members already have the technology, no purpose would be served by hiding parts of the report from them. And it prevailed.

Asked whether it was a Democratic decision to give the entire report to five and edited version to remaining 10, Secretary-General Kofi Annan did not directly answer the question, but said the Council takes its own decision and he respects its decisions.

PTI