IRAQ said yesterday that it expects to be attacked by America and Britain, and warned of the "grave" consequences if any attempt was made to topple Saddam Hussein from power.
In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi deputy prime minister, alleged that the Baghdad regime had learned of plans by the West to strike "300 targets with 1,000 missiles".
He accused America and Britain of trying to remove Saddam under the pretext of waging war against terrorism.
He said: "We know that they are preparing for such an attack. We are watching what is being said and what is being done in the United States and in Britain and we know that it is just a matter of time before such an attack.
"That is going to be a very grave mistake. The Arab world is not going to tolerate that. Many countries are not going to tolerate that because they know that this is unjust and is sheer aggression."
He said that while he did not expect an attack against Iraq to result in Arab military retaliation, it would cause the painstakingly assembled coalition against terrorism to fall apart, isolating Britain and America.
Mr Aziz was speaking as America and Britain completed their third week of bombing attacks on Afghanistan with the heaviest assault yet on the capital, Kabul. US warplanes also pounded Taliban positions across Afghanistan in an assault lasting more than 11 hours, reportedly killing nine people.
Meanwhile, Paul Wolfowitz, America's deputy defence secretary, told The Telegraph that Britons should brace themselves for biological weapons attacks.
Oh no. They won't declare another holy war on us will they? That would be number 749 in the last three weeks. Or maybe it would be the dreaded mother of all wars....again.