Once diplomacy was exhausted, US officials said, Bush would address the nation, issuing a final ultimatum to Saddam and giving aid workers and others time to leave Iraq.
Washington, London and Madrid have been trying for weeks to gather the needed nine votes on the 15-nation Security Council for a resolution paving the way to war, but only one other council member, Bulgaria, has publicly backed them.
Some UN diplomats say the summit trio may decide to withdraw the resolution rather than risk the humiliation, and legal complications, of seeing it rejected.
France, Russia and Germany -- leading opponents of any US-led rush to war -- have issued a joint call for foreign ministers to convene a meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday in an effort to bridge the diplomatic chasm over Iraq.
The US embassy in the United Arab Emirates warned US citizens yesterday of possible "terrorist" attacks in nightclubs in Dubai, the region's tourist hub.
The UN said in Baghdad that Iraq was continuing to destroy its banned al-Samoud missiles in accordance with UN disarmament demands, despite the war footing announcement.
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