Washington: US President George W Bush has said that the Iraqi arms declaration, on account of its flaws and discrepancies, was a "disappointment for those who longed for peace".

In reply to a question on December 20 whether Saddam Hussein has squandered the last chance to come clean on his weapons of mass destruction and whether "we are now on a path to war", Bush evaded a direct reply and said if the Security Council does not see Saddam disarm, it will lose its relevance in the 21st century.

Bush was speaking at a joint media appearance with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and European Union (EU) representatives, who were in Washington to basically discuss the situation in the Middle East.

Stressing that "we are serious about keeping the peace", the US President said the "document (discussed at the UN Security Council) was not encouraging. "We expected him to show that he would disarm."

He however, asserted "we will fulfill the terms and conditions of" UN resolution 1441, which required Iraq to make a full, complete disclosure of its weapons programmes.

PTI