Iraq has challenged British Prime Minister Tony Blair to prove the allegation that it continues to produce weapons of mass destruction. In a statement issued in Baghdad Thursday, the Iraqi government said it would welcome a British delegation, accompanied by journalists, to inspect how and where Iraq is producing such weapons.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Blair told Australian television that Iraq's accumulation of weapons of mass destruction poses a threat to world stability.

The British leader also said President Bush was right to say that Iraq is part of an "axis of evil" that includes Iran and North Korea. In a State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress in late January, Mr. Bush said the "axis of evil" nations support terrorism and are trying to acquire nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

A Blair spokesman says the United States and Britain have made no decision about when or how to act against Iraq. Mr. Blair and President Bush spoke by telephone Thursday. The two leaders are due to meet in Washington in April. The United States has made clear it would like to see a change of government in Baghdad. Thursday, U.S. officials said Washington may pay for a radio transmitter that would beam messages into Iraq from the country's opposition. movement.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he hopes his talks next week with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri will clear the way for the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq. The inspectors are charged with searching for banned weapons of mass destruction. The Annan-Sabri talks are set for March 7.

Iraq has been under U.N. sanctions since invading Kuwait in August 1990. The sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors verify that Baghdad has no weapons of mass destruction.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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