US Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council apparently failed to budge world opinion on Iraq, with most countries reaffirming their earlier positions.
In testimony before the Security Council, Powell said Iraq had failed the disarmament tests laid down in Council resolutions and had failed to seize the one last chance it had been given to avoid war.
The four other veto-bearing members of the Security Council stood by their earlier statements, with Britain supporting the US position, France opposing it and Russia and China urging for UN inspectors to be given more time.
Britain, the staunchest US supporter, said February 14 would be the crunch moment in the Iraq crisis.
"This council will have further reports from the inspectors on Friday week. If non-cooperation continues, this council must meet its responsibilities," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the UN Security Council in New York.
France, one of the most vociferous opponents to US policy on Iraq, reaffirmed its opposition to early military action, but did not rule it out altogether if it was approved by the Security Council.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said war against Iraq could be possible if UN weapons inspections fail.
"If this path fails and leads us into an impasse, we rule out no option, including, as a last resort, the use of force, as we have said all along," de Villepin told the Security Council.
China and Russia called for the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq to continue their work.
Powell's presentation "indicates that the activities of the international inspectors in Iraq must be continued," said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
"This information has to be immediately handed over for processing by UNMOVIC and the IAEA through on-site verification during the inspections in Iraq," he said, referring to the UN agencies whose teams are searching for any biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs in Iraq.
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan called on the United States to hand over the intelligence used in the briefing to the inspectors.
In Europe, ten Central and Eastern European nations and NATO aspirants lined up behind the United States, saying in a joint statement it was now clear that Baghdad was breaching UN disarmament resolutions.
"We have actively supported the international efforts to achieve a peaceful disarmament of Iraq," the foreign ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia said.
"However, it has now become clear that Iraq is in material breach of UN Security Council Resolutions, including UN Resolution 1441..."