Washington dismissed the move as a tactical ploy by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but other key UN members were more cautious, with only Russia welcoming the move among the five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members.

"Thanks to our joint efforts, we managed to avert the threat of a war scenario and go back to political means of solving the Iraqi problem," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.

The White House dismissively branded Iraq's offer "a tactic that will fail" to prevent muscular UN Security Council action to disarm Baghdad and chided the Security Council for softness on Iraq.

"This is a tactical step by Iraq in hopes of avoiding strong UN Security Council action. As such, it is a tactic that will fail," spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement. "It is time for the Security Council to act."

US President George W. Bush still wants "a new, effective UN Security Council resolution that will actually deal with the threat Saddam Hussein poses to the Iraqi people, to the region, and to the world," he said.

France and Britain also were wary, with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin saying the council "must now hold Saddam Hussein to his word.

Saddam has a "long history of playing games," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

That left only China among the council's five permanent members to remain silent on the letter given to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.

Sabri emphasized that Baghdad's actions were in response to Annan saying recently that the inspector's return should be "the indispensable first step" towards "a comprehensive solution that includes the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Iraq" after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The fifth, China, had no immediate reaction.

Bush has warned the council that if it fails to act to force Baghdad to comply with 16 resolutions he says Saddam has flouted -- including those aimed at disarming Iraq -- then Washington will be forced to act unilaterally.

In a tough-worded speech Thursday to the UN General Assembly, Bush laid out five demands of Saddam: scrap his biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons programs and stockpiles" end support for terrorism" end persecution of Iraq's civilian population" free or account for non-Iraqi citizens missing since the Gulf War" and end all efforts to circumvent UN economic sanctions.

Annan sought to put a positive spin on the move, saying Bush's speech had "galvanised the international community" to put pressure on Iraq.

The inspectors in the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and their chairman Hans Blix were "ready to continue their work," said Annan.

Annan repeated his quoted words in a note transmitting Sabri's letter to the president of the UN Security Council.

The Iraqi move followed days of intense diplomatic lobbying by the United States to drum up support for a tough new council resolution to force Iraq to disarm.

"I have had quite a number of bilateral meetings, and I think the political dynamic has changed and there is a great deal of pressure for Iraq to come into compliance," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also had sounded a deeply skeptical note about Iraq's real intentions.

"On every previous occasion that announcements have been made, they have been an alternative to what Iraq was required to do by international law," he said.

The first hint that Iraq might be buckling to pressure came in an announcement by its official INA news agency that Saddam had chaired three meetings with top aides in Baghdad within 24 hours.

Later, Annan and Sabri canceled a scheduled meeting.

France's de Villepin said a key factor was unanimity among Arab states that Iraq should let the inspectors back. "The Arabs are closer than ever, this is a real achievement," he said.

Annan acknowledged that the Arab states had "played a key role," and singled out the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Musa, for "his strenuous efforts in helping to convince Iraq to allow the return of the inspectors."

A spokesman for Blix welcomed the Iraqi statement and said: "We are ready for immediate talks in New York on the practical arrangements" for resuming inspections.

Blix told the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine in a story published Sunday that "the first inspections could happen with two weeks," and that "a large enough group could be put together" in a month.

He had said Tuesday after briefing the Security Council that it would probably take a year to complete the inspections, and only if "there is cooperation in all respects by Iraq."

rh/aln/ceh Nampa-AFP WEB story ENDS (NAMPA 170315)

World News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Many Indians flee Hindu-Christian clashes
•  Mugabe to form new govt
•  Nebraska council votes to evict aging horse
•  Angolan vote campaign looks increasingly one-sided
•  Barack Obama makes history as Democratic nominee
•  100 militants killed in Afghanistan