UNITED NATIONS, Feb 22: The UN weapons inspectors on Friday ordered Iraq to start destroying dozens of illegal missiles and their components by March 1.

In a letter sent to Baghdad on Friday night, UN’s chief weapons Inspector, Hans Blix, asked it to destroy all of its Al Samoud 2 missiles and warheads, the missile engines for them, and a host of other components.

He also ordered Iraq to destroy the launchers, testing equipment, software and documentation associated with the Al Samoud programme, but not the factories where the missiles were built, as the United States wanted.

“The appropriate arrangements should be made so that the destruction process can commence by March 1, 2003,” Mr Blix said in a four-page letter to Iraqi General Amer al-Saadi, an adviser to President Saddam Hussein. March 1 is the date Blix’s next report to the UN Security Council on Iraqi compliance is due.

Iraq declared the Al Samoud and other new missile systems to UN inspectors in October, and again in its 12,000-page weapons declaration in December and noted that in 13 of 40 tests, the missiles flew slightly beyond the limit.

The March 1 deadline will be crucial for the Security Council, which is bitterly divided over whether war is necessary. Immediate compliance by the Iraqis will likely bolster the position of France and others who claim inspections are working.

Diplomats here said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s response could either hurt or help the United States as it struggles to win international support for a new UN resolution backing war with Iraq.

The Bush administration, searching for more evidence of Iraq’s refusal to peacefully disarm, had pushed for the destruction of the missiles. US officials said they were reviewing the four-page order that Blix sent to the Iraqis late Friday.

The United States and Britain have already said time had run out for President Saddam and were preparing to present a new draft resolution next week that would give them UN backing for an invasion of Iraq.