LONDON, Dec 29: A British tabloid newspaper claimed on Sunday that a US-led war on Iraq would start on Feb 21 “at midnight”.

The Sunday Express said the date and time was given by US President George Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a telephone call over Christmas, although Israel put out a swift denial.

“The timing is confirmed by British defence chiefs, who have been told to expect war in the second or third week in February,” the newspaper said.

But Israeli public radio quoted an official in Sharon’s office as saying: “We categorically deny these reports.”

The Sunday Express said the war would witness “the most devastating air strikes the world has seen”, and result in as many as 110,000 Iraqis heading to Britain as refugees.

It also did not specify any time zone when it said that the war would start at midnight.

In a radio address to Americans on Saturday, Bush said the burden rested on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein “to disclose and destroy his arsenal of weapons” of mass destruction.—AFP