BAGHDAD, Jan 10: Europe moved to stay America’s hand over Iraq on Friday, as top officials spoke out against a rush to war on the basis of inconclusive weapons inspections.

“Without proof, it would be very difficult to start a war,” European Union foreign policy coordinator Javier Solana said.

As US.President George Bush continued to mobilize his forces and met Iraqi opposition leaders, one of President Saddam Hussein’s main Iraqi foes said an invasion could destabilize the Middle East and warned that the sort of massive occupying force Washington envisages would face popular armed resistance.

“We reject the idea of an invasion and occupation of Iraqi territory,” said Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim.

After U.N. inspectors told the Security Council on Thursday they had found no “smoking gun” to challenge Iraq’s insistence it has no nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, Washington made clear it still felt Baghdad was defying the United Nations.

With the world’s eyes turning to North Korea, which has admitted developing nuclear weapons and pulled out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty on Friday, US officials insisted Iraq posed a major threat, however little the inspections found.

Chief inspector Hans Blix told the Security Council Iraq had “failed to answer a great many questions”. The United States said if Iraq continued to deceive it would again be in “material breach” of Council resolutions — language that could mean war.

In Iraq, U.N. experts visited three sites on Friday, including a rocket fuel plant which Britain has alleged may be developing missiles to carry chemical or germ warheads.—Reuters