The United States says it still wants to see Saddam Hussein removed as the leader of Iraq, even if he allows United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country.
US Under-Secretary of State John Bolton told the BBC that that Baghdad's invitation to the chief UN weapons inspector for "technical talks" made no difference to America's demand for "regime change". Earlier, Secretary of State Colin Powell accused Iraq of trying to move the goalposts, to avoid meeting its obligations.
Speculation has been growing about a possible attack on Iraq by the US, which alleges that Saddam Hussein is developing weapons of mass destruction.
The UN inspectors have been barred by Iraq from returning since they left in 1998.
Verification of Iraqi weapons programmes is a key condition for the lifting of UN sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
'Intolerable burden'
"We continue to favour the reintroduction of the inspectors and we are supporting them as much as we can," said the US Under-Secretary of State, who is Washington's arms control expert.
"But...our policy at the same time insists on regime change in Baghdad.
"That policy will not be altered whether the inspectors go in or not," Mr Bolton added.
However he refused to be drawn on how the Iraqi leader might be removed from power.
"There are all kinds of ways for regime change to take place," he said. "The Iraqi opposition has long felt that the country is really burdened intolerably by Saddam Hussein's presence in Baghdad, and that opposition continues to grow."
Colin Powell had earlier rejected the Iraqi offer to re-open talks with UN weapons inspectors, saying the goal was not inspections for inspections' sake but "disarmament and removal of all capacity for weapons of mass destruction".
"They [the Iraqis] understand what is required of them and there is no need for further clarification or discussion," Mr Powell said.
Deep scepticism
The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has cautiously welcomed Iraq's invitation, though he noted it was "at variance" with Security Council procedures.
No decision is to be taken until a Security Council meeting next week.
Other members of the UN Security Council appear to be divided over the offer – Russia and France welcomed it but Britain is sceptical.
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Washington says the US administration has been careful to play down the significance of an Iraqi offer it views with deep scepticism, and President George W Bush has left the capital for the weekend without commenting on it.
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