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But chances of a breakthrough remained slight, with the US opposing concessions and the Iraqi leadership accusing the US of interfering in its internal affairs.

On Tuesday, the Council noted a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that said Iraq's nuclear file could be shifted from intrusive inspections to long-term monitoring once Baghdad resumed cooperation with UN inspectors. This would effectively close the nuclear file, but still leave chemical, biological and ballistic weapons to be dealt with before the Council could consider lifting sanctions, Reuters reported.

In its report, the IAEA repeated its claims that over the past six months, it has found no new evidence of Iraq trying to restart its nuclear weapons programme.

Secretary-general of the IAEA Mohamed Elbaradei told a closed meeting of the Security Council that it was beyond the means of the verification process to certify that Iraq could not restart its weapons programme.

His comments drew immediate approval from Russia, China and France, which backed the transfer to long-term monitoring on condition Iraq rescinds its 5 August decision to stop cooperating with the inspectors. But the US and Britain said clarifications were needed concerning the nuclear file before spot inspections could be stopped.

The Iraqi leadership issued a statement Tuesday after a meeting chaired by President Saddam Hussein, accusing the US of meddling in Iraq's internal affairs. Any decision to end the on cooperation ban was postponed until further talks could be held.