SADDAM HUSSEIN last night agreed "in principle" to obey UN instructions to destroy his al Samoud missiles - but the move was dismissed by the US as just another ploy.

Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has given Iraq until tomorrow to destroy the missiles, which exceed the UN's 93-mile flight limit.

Last night, Dr Blix's office confirmed receiving a letter from a senior Iraqi official, saying Baghdad accepted the destruction of the missiles. But it was not clear whether the letter was an unconditional acceptance.

Earlier, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer predicted Saddam would agree to the missiles demand, but added: "It's part of the game-playing that Iraq has done in the past. They take off a few inches from the tip of their iceberg and leave the mass underwater where it can do the most damage."

Dr Blix's latest report on Iraq is not expected to heal UN divisions when it is delivered today.

A Security Council meeting ended in bitter dispute last night with members unable to even agree when Dr Blix should next address them.

And today's written update on the inspectors' work is unlikely to bring the pro and anti war factions closer together.

Both the "hawks", led by Washington and London, and the "doves" led by Paris and Berlin, are expected to seize on its findings as support for their strategy.

According to the BBC, Dr Blix says in his report that the inspections aimed at disarming Iraq have produced "very limited" results.

Meanwhile, the British Government was mounting a renewed diplomatic push last night to win backing for a fresh UN resolution on the crisis after being rocked by the biggest backbench revolt of modern times.

Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister would not be deflected from his strategy of confronting Saddam - despite Wednesday night's vote by 121 rebel Labour MPs plus one teller saying that the case for war was "as yet unproven".

Mr Blair was last night travelling to Madrid to discuss tactics with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.