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United Nations, Thursday (AFP)

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will warn the United States from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly about the dangers of acting alone against Iraq.

In a speech, published by his spokesman's office 11 hours before he was to deliver it, Annan acknowledged that the UN Charter gave every country the right to self-defence if attacked, but said:

"When states decide to use force to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations."

A senior UN official said the speech was "a very strong restatement of the multilateral faith on which the United Nations is based," and described it as one of the most important Annan has ever made.

Asked whether it amounted to a warning to Washington, the senior official replied: "If it's a warning, it's an extremely friendly warning," and added that Annan "desperately hopes that the Iraqi issue can be resolved peacefully."

Annan urged Iraq to comply with council resolutions, "for the sake of its own people and for the sake of world order."

Meanwhile on the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush's much-anticipated U.N. speech on Iraq, the United States picked up the support of European nations Portugal and Bulgaria for a hard line toward Baghdad.

"I do believe that we can reach, if not a consensus, at least a big majority in the U.N. Security Council on a resolution on Iraq" if the United States should ask for one, said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy.

"I think the United States has already been quite convincing, and they were convincing for many of their European allies," Passy said when asked what it would take for Bush to convince Bulgaria to back him on Iraq.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz said, "We believe it is a mistake some allies are doing - blaming the United States. We need to blame Iraq. Iraq is not respecting U.N. resolutions."

Meanwhile Radical British Muslims passionately defended the September 11 attackers and told the world to expect more strikes like last year's devastating airliner attacks in New York and Washington.

"The United States has to suffer more so it can learn obedience," leading London-based Saudi dissident Dr Muhammad Al-Masari told a news conference after a controversial meeting at a mosque in the city.

Syrian-born cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad told reporters Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, widely blamed for the September 11 attacks, was still intact and was "a powerful organisation".

He predicted revenge if the United States attacked Iraq, which has become the new focus in U.S. President George W. Bush's self-declared "war on terror".

Egyptian-born cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who has been linked to bin Laden and al Qaeda, railed at Bush on his way into the meeting.

"We call on everyone to tell that crazy man to stop bringing war beyond his borders," Masri told reporters.

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