WASHINGTON, Aug7: President Bill Clinton on Thursday called Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UN arms inspectors "unacceptable" and vowed to block any bid to ease sanctions until Baghdad fully complies with inspections, reports Reuters.

"Unless Iraq reverses course and cooperates fully with international weapons inspectors. the United States will stop any and all efforts to alter the sanctions regime." Clinton said in a statement Issued by the White House.

Iraq on Wednesday announced that it would no longer cooperate with UN arms inspection teams charged with ensuring its weapons of mass destruction are destroyed. It said the United States was delaying the process in order to continue sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

"Iraq's latest refusal to cooperate with the international weapons inspectors is unacceptable." Clinton said.

"Far from hastening the day the international Community lifts sanctions against Iraq, as Iraq intends, its failure to live up to its obligations will perpetuate those sanctions and keep the Iraqi economy under tight international control," he said.

Clinton blamed Baghdad for delays in ending broad eco-

nomic sanctions and said "recent discoveries" of nerve gas residue on Iraqi warheads "only underscore Iraq's failure to meet its obligations to the world."

The latest round to tensions in the cat-and-mouse game between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the UN Security Council flared when Iraq abruptly said it was suspending cooperation with the UN special commission that conducts arms inspections.

Baghdad insists the commission be "reformed" to eliminate US Influence it blames for prolonging the disarmament process and sanctions.

Some diplomats and analysts speculated the timing of Saddam s latest actions may be linked in part to problems Clinton faces at home in a probe of his relationship with exWhite House Intern Monica Lewinsky.

At the defence department, spokesman Ken Bacon said there were no current plans to Increase the size of US forces in the Gulf, which currently include the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and 167 warplanes in the region.

AP adds from United Nations: Choosing words over warfare, the Security Council called Iraq's refusal to allow arms inspections "totally unacceptable" but dangled the

possibility of UN concessions if Saddam Hussein cooperated.

The 15-member council on Thursday condemned Iraq's decision to snub weapons chief Richard Butler, but did not disclose what It planned to do about it. except to engage more closely with Iraq.

Iraq's actions run contrary to an agreement Secretary-General Kofi Annan struck with Saddam in February, the last time Iraq cut off the Inspectors from doing their Jobs, the council said. The deal averted an attack by the United States and Britain, who had sent forces to the Gulf to back their insistence on inspections.

Iraq told weapons inspectors Thursday that they cannot check new sites. It also banned surprise checks by the UN nuclear agency.

One option may be to consider proposals by some members, notably Russia and France, to alleviate some sanctions. Russia and France have pending financial interests in Iraq, while other nations are concerned about the effect of the sanctions, which the Iraqis blame for the deaths of 500 children a month.

The council's actions also reflected International weariness with the issue — a factor that the Iraqis hope will accelerate lifting of the sanctions, which have debilitated Iraq for eight years.

"We need to see deeds, not words." Said Hasan, the Iraqi Charge d' Affairs at the United Nations, said. "We are frustrated. we are fed up... it is now so clear Mr. Butler changes his declarations from time to time."

Another report from China says: China on Thursday offered to mediate a political settlement to the new rift in dialogue between Iraq and UN weapons inspectors, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

We urge both parties to restore dialogue ana cooperation at the earliest date, and to resolve disputes through consultation." the agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Tang Guoqlang as saying.

China is prepared to work with all parties to stop the situation from deteriorating further and promote a "comprehensive and balanced implementation" of UN resolutions on Iraq, it quoted Tang saying.

China, one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, has mostly sided with Russia and France in urging a speedy end to weapons inspections to allow the lifting of sanctions. That has sometimes set it against the United States and Great Britain, which have taken a harder line on Iraq cooperation with inspectors and compliance with disarmament demands.