US, UK were aware of Iraq's WMD: Rumsfeld

The United States of America and Britain were aware that Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.

Disarmament is not an issue between Iraq and the United Nations, but between Iraq and the US, Rumsfeld said. It is for Iraq to declare those weapons of mass destruction and deliver them to the UN for destruction, he added.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had stated on Tuesday that Iraq was cooperating with the inspectors.

In response, US President George W Bush said the issue is whether Iraq disarms and averts war. "The issue is not the inspectors. The issue is whether or not Saddam Hussein disarms like he said he would." Bush said while addressing a Senate by-election crowd of 5,000 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

"We're not interested in hide-and-seek inside Iraq. The only question is ... will this man

disarm? The choice is his. And if he does not disarm, the United States of America will lead a coalition to disarm him," he said.

Asked whether the US would present evidence of Iraq's WMD before the UN Security Council, Rumsfeld said, "Those will be judgements that every country of the UN Security Council will have to make."

The council, on November 8, unanimously passed a resolution giving Iraq 30 days to declare its WMDs and missile programmes and disarm, or face "serious consequences".

"Stating that the resolution also calls on Iraq to end the repression of its civilian population," he said, "disarmament alone may not be enough to satisfy the requirements of the resolution."

Referring to a report released by Britain recently, he accused the Iraqi regime of attacking the country's Shiite and Kurdish populations forcing millions to flee their homeland.