Iraq on Saturday provided the names of about 500 scientists who had worked on its weapons of mass destruction programs, while US officials said US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered a sharp increase of forces in the Gulf in case of war with Baghdad.
A UN spokesman said Iraq handed over to arms inspectors the names of personnel the US says could pinpoint any illicit arsenal Baghdad may possess.
One Iraqi scientist already interviewed spoke out publicly to reject UN inspectors' suggestions his work may have been related to secret efforts to develop nuclear missiles.
US President George W. Bush said the US would confront the danger of "catastrophic violence" posed by Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction.
Defense Department and Bush administration officials said the movement of US armored, infantry and airborne troops to the Gulf would be significant. They said it would at least double the 50,000 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps personnel already near Iraq and was a clear signal of Bush's intent to end Baghdad's chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs.
Baghdad, which denies it currently has weapons of mass destruction programs, said it would fight any invaders through the streets and teach them a lesson they would never forget.
UN spokesman Hiro Ueki told a news briefing in Baghdad the list of Iraqi scientists, demanded by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Dec. 12, contained more than 500 names and included experts in chemical, biological and nuclear programs and in the development of long-range missiles.
The inspectors began this week interviewing scientists who could shed light on Iraq's previous and any current programs.
Washington has pressed the UN inspectors to use powers to escort scientists outside Iraq to make them feel safer, believing the intelligence they could give could be crucial.
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors interviewed one leading Iraqi scientist on Friday, but metallurgist Kathim Mijbil said on Saturday the experts had exaggerated the outcome of the interview.
Ueki sought on Saturday to play down the apparent misunderstanding, saying the scientist had not participated in a previous nuclear weapons program and that the information he gave was not classified.
Ueki said on Friday the scientist, with expertise in restoring aluminum tubes used in missiles, had provided technical details of a military program.
"I strongly deny this," Mijbil told a news conference. "Frankly I'm very disturbed ... over these statements because they don't relate to reality. Does cleaning an aluminum tube from corrosion with basic chemicals ... lead to a secret program?"
Bush said in his weekly radio address from his Texas ranch that "the burden now is on Iraq's dictator to disclose and destroy his arsenal of weapons."
"If he refuses [to yield], then for the sake of peace, the United States will lead a coalition to disarm the Iraqi regime and free the Iraqi people," Bush added.
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