LONDON, January 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair called on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein Monday, January 13, to take the "peaceful route" and comply with UN demands to give up weapons of mass destruction allegedly hidden within his country’s borders.

“Otherwise, Saddam will be disarmed by force,” Blair was keen to add such a threatening tone at a monthly press conference at Downing Street.

"I passionately believe we must disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction," Blair answered to a question the value of an Iraq war, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Saddam should take the peaceful route and disarm. If he does not, he will be disarmed by force," he said.

However, the British Prime Minister went as far as that he was "quite sure" that Iraq possesses chemical and biological weapons, and that he has the evidence of this.

On Tuesday, September 24, presenting a long-awaited dossier on Iraq, Blair told parliament that President Saddam Hussein may be only a year or two away from possessing a nuclear bomb.

“Nor does it present a strong argument against a policy of enhanced containment. Its strongest impact might be in reinforcing the case for a U.N. resolution that requires aggressive inspections”, the Financial Times said, a day after Blair presented his dossier.

Fielding questions from journalists Monday, Blair slammed Iraq's nearly 12,000-page declaration to the United Nations on December 7 as "inadequate and probably false."

The declaration on the Arab country’s weapons program has been presented to the UN Security Council only one day before the deadline set out by the international body. Iraq denied in the report it has any weapons of mass destruction.

Countering a crunch question of a reporter skeptical about the benefit of war to the country, Blair said that a global trade in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons represented "a direct threat to British national security."

Blair signaled his preference for UN arms inspectors - who under Resolution 1441 are to report back to the UN Security Council on January 27 - to finish their work before any U.S.-led military action begins.

But Blair was a bit cautious in answering questions on the extent the potential military action against Iraq is linked to the findings of the inspection teams currently visiting Iraq.

Blair refused to be drawn on whether he thought the UN inspectors should be allowed to continue their work until the autumn of this year.

The Inspectors are due to report to the UN Security Council on January 27, a date widely thought to probably be a trigger for a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

"Don't be under any doubt whatever," Blair said. "If there is a breach of the UN mandate, if there is a breach of the UN resolution, ... then action will follow." Blair said.

Struggle to Justify War

But what was crystal clear at the conference is that Blair was at pains to clarify that the British participation in any would-be war against Iraq is by no means an unjustifiable intervention.

However, was he persuasive while making the case for the reasoning behind the ongoing troop build-up, was a nagging question out of the conference, according to AFP.

Tony Blair knew he faced uphill struggle when he set himself the task of winning around the opinion in favor of military action against Iraq, and this time it appears the great persuader's charms have failed, Nick Assinder of the BBC News online said.

Opposition Voices Still Higher

As the war prospects fast approaching, a group of American academics who oppose a war with Iraq began a fact-finding and humanitarian mission in Baghdad Monday saying a conflict was illegal and unnecessary.

"U.S. Academics Against the War" has sent 35 people from 28 universities across the United States to Iraq after 30,000 teachers signed a petition to try to persuade President George W. Bush not to unleash a war.

"We have come here to establish dialogue, to do a fact-finding mission, to represent the humanitarian aspect of the American public, because we have concern for the people here, for the families, for the children who are going to suffer during any future war," said coordinator James Jennings.

"We oppose a war, we think that it constitutes aggression, it is contrary to international law, it will do great damage to the infrastructure and to the people and to the country, it is unwarranted, unnecessary, unwise, it is contrary to the deepest values of the American constitution."

The group, which arrived Sunday night, visited a children's hospital in Baghdad and the capital's Amariya air shelter where some 400 civilians perished during a US aerial bombardment in February 1991, at the height of the Gulf War. At the time, U.S. officials said they believed the site was an Iraqi military command centre.

Inspections Continue

In the hunt for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, the UN weapons inspectors carried out new searches Monday, as an Iraqi official vowed Saddam Hussein would never leave Iraq.

"Saddam Hussein will never leave his country but will stay there until the last Iraqi shot is fired," Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told the BBC amid growing calls for the Iraqi president to stand down and avoid war.

"The danger will be greater for Iraq if the president leaves," Aziz said, repeating Baghdad's claim that it no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction.

UN arms experts visited at least six suspect sites Monday, the 45th day of inspections since they resumed the search for banned weapons programs in November after a four-year break, AFP reported.

A team of missile specialists visited Faluja, west of Baghdad, while another team returned to Basra, 550 kilometers (330 miles) south of the capital, information ministry officials said.

A chemicals team visited Baghdad's Technology University again, while a team of biologists inspected two science faculties in the capital.

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also visited the university, as a multi-disciplinary team headed off towards Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Experts from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the IAEA resumed arms inspections in Iraq on November 27.

Iraqi Popular Mobilization

But amid a mounting buildup of US and British forces in the Gulf region, Ath-Thawra newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling Baath party in Baghdad, reported that thousands of Iraqis were volunteering for extra military training.

Ceremonies were organized in Baghdad and six other provinces on Sunday marking the departure of contingents of volunteers for training camps, Ath-Thawra said.

"These volunteers have already trained in the use of arms ... but the circumstances today require that they improve their combat readiness for any eventuality," a Baath party official said.

The party has spearheaded popular mobilization against U.S. threats to invade if Iraq fails to disarm in line with UN demands.