"You may see a great deal of targets being attacked in a short period of time," said a defence source who added that Britain and the United States were "on the brink" of launching military action.

Legitimate military targets would not be attacked if they were judged to pose an inproportionate risk to Iraqi civilians, another source said, stressing: "It is actually illegal to target a civilian object."

President Saddam would use all means at his disposal to win the propaganda war at home, in the Arab world and the wider international community, the sources said.

"We are seeing attempts to reengage the United Nations, more concessions on weapons of mass destruction will still go on," one source said.

"There will undoubtedly be an emphasis on civilian casualties" as well as the possibility that Iraqi soldiers would commmit atrocities dressed in British or US uniforms, he said.

The sources said there was evidence that Saddam was planning to use chemical weapons on his own population, such as the Kurds in the north or the Shiites in the south, and around the suburbs of Baghdad.

Baghdad may also try to claim that war damage left over from the Iran-Iraq and 1991 Gulf wars -- particularly in areas around the southern city of Basra -- is the result of fresh coalition attacks.

"There's an awful lot of damage in Basra that hasn't been repaired," said a defence source.

Saddam's elite Republican Guard, which is comprised of his most loyal and highly-trained officers, is deployed around lines of access into and out of Baghdad, the same source said.

He also said there was a "likelihood" that Saddam had the capability to target Israel with some sort of missile.

Iraqi forces might also try setting alight oil-filled trenches surrounding main cities, then try to blame the resulting smoke pall on British and US bombing.

WAR.WIRE