Saddam prepares for future without his protective shield

Iraq will finally begin the destruction of its al-Samoud 2 missiles this afternoon, under protest, on the last day of a deadline imposed by the United Nations.

Baghdad made known yesterday afternoon that it would dispose of the medium-range missiles, having declared during the night that it agreed to the measure "in principle".

Iraqi officials will meet Demetrius Perricos, the head of Unmovic (the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) this morning to discuss the technical aspects of the disposal.

The missiles will be tagged by UN inspectors before the rocket motors and warheads are removed and destroyed. The remaining sections, similar to those of the older Scud system, will then be cut up. Those that are deployed with the Iraqi forces will have high explosives removed from them.

Mr Blix ordered the elimination of the al-Samoud 2s because their range broke the limit of 150km (93 miles) imposed on Iraqi missiles by the UN Security Council in 1991 at the end of the Gulf War.

The Iraqis still object to the order to destroy the weapons because only a few exceed the limit and they claim that is because they were tested without warheads or guidance systems.

Lieutenant-General Amer al-Saadi, Saddam Hussein's chief weapons adviser, said in a letter to Mr Blix: "The decision to destroy [the missiles] was unjust and did not take into consideration the scientific facts regarding the issue. The timing of this request seems to be one with political aims."

Last night, neither Lt-Gen Saadi nor Lt-Gen Hossam Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison officer with the UN, was available for comment.

There is a deep feeling among Iraqi government officials that the country is being denuded of its few remaining weapons while still facing a ferocious and overwhelming attack from the United States.

With air force and armour that are no match for those of the US and Britain, artillery and missiles are among the few viable combat weapons left for the Iraqis. Earlier this week, American and British aircraft began to attack and destroy not only ground-to-air missiles, which threaten planes, but also Astros 2, a ground-to-ground missile system with a range of 60km (37 miles), well within the proscribed UN limits. Just how many of the somewhat antiquated al-Samoud 2 missiles Iraq possesses is unclear. Last year, it declared a stock of 72, but defence analysts say that production has continued and the total may be 120 or more.

Mr Blix did not specify a time limit for the destruction of the missiles. Some of them have already been deployed with the Iraqi army in battle positions and the UN will demand that they are retrieved. Any failure by the Iraqis to surrender stock will be seen as a deliberate breach of Security Council resolution 1441.

Meanwhile, travellers to Baghdad from the north reported seeing large numbers of troops, including members of the Republican Guard, taking up protective positions around Tikrit, President Saddam's birthplace and power base. Tanks and artillery were spotted dug into deep trenches. The Republican Guard is believed to be from the Adnan division, which was previously based near the city of Mosul.

President Saddam, his son Qusay and a number of ministers held meetings yesterday with senior commanders on defence planning, according to the government-owned Iraqi News Agency.