"The purpose of the United States is to occupy Iraq, dominate its oil and control the whole Mideast region," Aziz told a live-televised press conference in the Italian capital of Rome following a 30-minute talk with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.

Aziz said most UN Security Council members, except Britain, do not favor an "aggressive" US policy on Iraq, referring to an open debate on Iraq's disarmament in the Security Council earlier in the day.

He said this shows that the majority of the international community oppose any US-led aggression on his country, calling on European countries to distance themselves from the United States.

"Iraq is not the enemy of European countries, or a threat to anybody," he said.

As for Iraq's cooperation with UN arms inspectors, Aziz said: "We are ready to continue working on implementing UN disarmament resolutions, and Iraq is open for more cooperation (with the inspectors)."

"We are implementing UN resolutions, and we are not violating them," he said, accusing the United States of constituting a breach of the UN resolution underlining the need to preserve Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

During the open session of the Security Council, chief UN arms inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei briefed the Security Council on the latest developments concerning Iraq's disarmament.

Blix said after 11 weeks of inspections, UN inspectors have not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but Baghdad still needs to show "credible" evidence that such arms do not exist.

"Another matter, and one of great significance, is that many proscribed weapons and items are not accounted for," he said, adding "One must not jump to the conclusion that they exist; however, that possibility is not excluded."

The United States has accused Iraq of hiding and secretly developing banned weapons as well as having linkage with the al-Qaeda terror network, and vowed to disarm Iraq by force if necessary. Iraq strongly denies the US allegation.

A US-led war on Iraq looms large as the United States has stepped up its military buildup in the Gulf region.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2003)