United Nations ? U.N. weapons inspectors bolstered the United States’ case Monday that Iraq has failed to cooperate with them wholeheartedly, but they also called for at least a “few months” to give the process time to avert a war.

The presentations to the U.N. Security Council, 60 days after inspections resumed following a four-year break, left the five veto-wielding members divided on how much more time Baghdad should be given to disarm.

As the Pentagon pushed ahead with war preparations, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that Saddam Hussein has “not much more time” to comply and suggested the next step by Washington could come as soon as next week.

But China, Russia, France, Germany and Syria, which have said they currently see no cause for war, countered that Monday’s reports supported the need for inspectors to continue to do their work.

In his toughest criticism yet, chief inspector Hans Blix charged that Iraq had never genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding its disarmament and warned that “cooperation on substance” was “indispensable” for a peaceful solution.

“Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it,” Blix told the council.

Speaking next, Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the U.N. nuclear control agency, said inspections of 106 sites had turned up no evidence so far that Iraq was reviving its nuclear program. With Iraq’s cooperation, he said, “we should be able within the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons programs.”

“These few months would be a valuable investment in peace because it could help avoid a war,” ElBaradei said.

Diplomats noted the stark difference in tone between the two reports, Blix stressing Iraq’s failure to cooperate and ElBaradei focusing on Baghdad’s cooperation. Blix has always stressed that Iraq never produced a nuclear weapon but it did make biological and chemical weapons and missiles, so he has a tougher job.

Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri insisted his country “has actively cooperated” and “has expressed its sincere willingness to clarify any questions.”

“We open all doors to Mr. Blix and his team. If there is something, he will find it. We have no hidden reports at all,” al-Douri said.

Mohamed Nazir of India watches chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix present his report to the United Nations Security Council. Iraq has not genuinely accepted the U.N. resolution demanding that it disarm, Blix told the Security Council Monday, and while Baghdad is cooperating on access, it needs to do more on substance. Nazir watched from an electronics showroom in Kuwait City

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan made public Monday, Iraq insisted it was “acting in good faith” with arms inspectors, giving them “effective and genuine cooperation” despite the “arbitrariness and bias” in the search.

The inspection reports came as President Bush planned to outline his case for possible war against Iraq in tonight’s State of the Union address.

If the United States seeks Security Council support for a war now, without giving inspectors more time, it will likely face opposition from China, Russia and France.

Powell said the administration would reveal new evidence “in the days ahead” of Iraq’s connections to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.

Persuasive evidence that Iraq is rebuilding its weapons programs could unite the council behind a resolution authorizing military action. But failing that, the United States and Britain have said they would form their own coalition to attack Iraq if they deem it necessary.

“What we can’t do is just keep kicking the can down the road in the absence of a change in policy and attitude” in Baghdad, Powell said at a State Department news conference, even though he acquiesced to additional U.N. inspections.

Powell and Annan said it still wasn’t too late for a peaceful solution; however, they added that the onus was now on Iraq to quickly provide not just access but information and answers about its nuclear, chemical, biological and weapons programs.

“This is not going to be resolved peacefully through the U.N. process unless we have 100 percent cooperation from Iraq,” said Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, whose country has been the staunchest U.S. ally.

In his report, Blix said Iraq failed to give inspectors evidence supporting claims that they had destroyed their weapons, such as the deadly nerve agent VX, anthrax and Scud-type missiles with a range of more than 90 miles.

Blix said his teams now thought Iraq’s claims that it was unsuccessful in producing VX were untrue. “There are indications that the agent was weaponized,” he said. Inspectors have also discovered a mustard gas precursor during recent inspections.