FOR U.S. EYES ONLY

UN officials were furious last night after America whisked the only copy of Iraq's weapons declaration to Washington for checks.

Officials said the move was because the US had better photocopying facilities.

An aide to President George Bush said last night: "It's already in Washington."

White House staff will send edited copies of the declaration to the other four permanent UN Security Council members, Britain, France, Russia and China.

Taking the 12,000-page document to America goes against what the 15-member council had agreed on Friday.

At a meeting members decided to leave the report in the hands of UN arms inspectors until it was screened for possible nuclear secrets - a process expected to take days. A spokesman said: "The spirit of the conversation on Friday was to keep the material out of the hands of non-nuclear powers.''

But the council changed it's mind late on Sunday over distribution.

Syria and Mexico were both unhappy over the decision. Angry UN officials for both countries said the document should have been sent to all members at the same time.

Baghdad insists the declaration shows it has no weapons of mass destruction.

The news comes as Iraqi opposition groups which have have patched up their long-standing differences united in an effort to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.

The groups - led by the Iraqi National Congress - met for talks in Iran days before a London meeting this weekend.

INC chief Ahmad Chalabi said: "The united meeting should discuss the future of Iraq so we can proceed with removing Saddam."

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament yesterday launched an unprecedented legal action to stop the Government joining a US-led Iraq war.

The group asked the High Court to intervene before it is "too late" and prevent Tony Blair from sending UK troops into battle without a fresh UN resolution.

CND's legal team is led by Rabinder Singh, a barrister colleague of Cherie Blair. He argued there was a "general principle of international law" banning the use of force unless it was in self-defence or authorised by the Security Council - neither of which is the case with Iraq.

Outside the court in London, anti-war Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn said: "I am hopeful we have a strong case that the Government is acting illegally in pursuit of an attack on Iraq."

The judges said they found the arguments for making the order "compelling".

It is the first time a government has been challenged in the courts over a declaration of war.

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