Washington ? The Bush administration said Thursday it had solid evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, setting the stage for urging the U.N. Security Council to consider action against Saddam Hussein.

The White House would not say what its evidence might be. Saddam said in Baghdad that Iraq wanted to disprove the U.S. allegations, though he did not explicitly deny having chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or a program to develop long-range missiles.

The international inspectors in Iraq have detected little that was suspicious in their first searches in nearly four years. Saddam said he had permitted the inspectors to return in order “to take our people out of harm’s way.”

Even while mobilizing for war and preparing for diplomatic combat with skeptics in the U.N. Security Council, President Bush declined to respond directly when asked whether the United States was heading toward war.

“That’s a question you should ask to Saddam Hussein,” he replied.

But in London, America’s closest ally, Britain, sternly warned Baghdad that it risked an attack if it gave inspectors a deceptive account of its weapons program this weekend.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, “While this weekend will not be the moment to declare Iraq either in breach or in compliance, a false declaration would make clear to the world that Saddam’s strategy is deceit.

“We will not allow him to get away with it.”

And at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated the United States would refer damning evidence against Iraq to the Security Council for joint action.

“They have to make a judgment as to whether or not the resolution that they passed unanimously is being complied with,” Rumsfeld said at a news conference.

It would be a “nice outcome” if Saddam decided to leave Iraq, Rumsfeld said. If the Iraqi leader remains in Baghdad, Rumsfeld said, “he will either deal with the problem of disarming or he will tell the world community that he is unwilling to.”

“And the next choice … is with the United Nations and the members of the Security Council,” Rumsfeld said.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer declined to describe the evidence he said the administration had on Iraqi weapons. But he said the United States would provide intelligence to U.N. inspectors.

“The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it,” Fleischer said.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz told ABC News “we don’t have weapons of mass destruction. We don’t have chemical, biological or nuclear weaponry, but we have equipment which was defined as dual use,” which means it might be useful in weapons programs.

Fleischer responded: “That statement is just as false as statements that Iraq made in the late ’90s when they said they had no weapons of mass destruction, when it was found they indeed did. There is no basis to that.”

Bush addressed the Iraq crisis during a Cabinet Room meeting with the leaders of Kenya and Ethiopia.

“For the sake of peace, he must disarm. There are inspectors inside the country now and the inspectors are there not to play a game of hide and seek. They’re there to verify whether or not Mr. Saddam Hussein is going to disarm,” the president said.

The Security Council has called for a full weapons declaration by Sunday. A senior Iraqi official in Baghdad has said the list would be turned over to U.N. and International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors on Saturday.

After that, the resolution adopted unanimously by the Council on Nov. 8 requires Bush to consult before taking any action. However, the president has made plain he reserves the option of using force against Iraq if Saddam refuses to disarm.