The Iraqi concessions seem to be the result of strong diplomatic and military pressures by the international community.
Iraqi President "Saddam Hussein no longer has room for maneuver," said another diplomat.
But diplomats in Baghdad believe the Iraqi concessions have come too late and that the relatively upbeat reports on Friday by UN inspectors to the Security Council will not have a lasting effect.
Too late
"The countdown [to war] has slowed down, but it did not stop," one said.
The next step is expected to be made by Britain which is believed to be planning to propose in the next few days a fresh UN resolution requesting a prompt answer from Iraq on demands lingering since 1998.
The resolution is not expected to directly threaten military action against Saddam's regime, but would refer to Resolution 1441 which warns Iraq of "serious consequences" if it fails to cooperate with the UN.
"There would be an ultimatum with a very short term as well as precise and concrete questions," said a diplomat who follows ongoing discussions at the Security Council.
The new resolution is expected to be drafted before the next status report by chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei on Feb. 28, in order to ask Baghdad to provide information on unanswered questions.
For countries like France and Russia, it would be impossible to veto such a resolution that would only be a summary of obligations approved by the international community for Iraq to meet, said a Western diplomat.
With such brief delays, diplomats doubt strongly that Baghdad would be able to answer all UN requests and assert that any omission by Iraq could pave the way for military action.
"The only thing that could stop a massive attack is the departure of Saddam Hussein," said one diplomat.
He said the Bush administration of could not drop its plan to remove the Iraqi strongman from power. Neither criticism by most countries nor growing worldwide public protests will stop Bush.
"The point of no-return has been crossed," he said.
Germans see America as a threat
A majority of Germans think the US poses a bigger threat to world peace than Iraq or North Korea, a survey published yesterday showed.
The NFO-Infratest survey for Der Spiegel weekly came a day after about half a million people rallied against a US-led Iraq war in Berlin.
Asked from which country emanated the greatest danger to world peace, the US, Iraq or North Korea, 53 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed named the US, 28 percent Iraq and nine percent North Korea.
The poll also asked whether Germans owed the US a debt of gratitude for helping to rebuild Germany after World War II and for protecting its peace and freedom during the Cold War. Sixty-two percent answered "no" while 34 percent said this was still the case.
Iraq yesterday gloated over the global outpouring of opposition to the US threat of attack, saying anti-war demonstrations in dozens of countries signaled an Iraqi victory and ``the defeat and isolation of America.''
Iraq's tightly controlled news media gave prominent coverage to anti-war demonstrations staged around the world on Saturday. Iraqi television showed footage of millions marching in the world's cities -- under the logo ``International Day of Confronting the Aggression.''
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