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LONDON, Sunday (AFP)

A British tabloid newspaper claimed on Sunday that a US-led war on Iraq would start on February 21 "at midnight."

The Sunday Express said the date and time was given by US President George W. Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a telephone call over Christmas.

"The timing is confirmed by British defence chiefs, who have been told to expect war in the second or third week in February," the newspaper said.

The Sunday Express said the war would witness "the most devastating air strikes the world has seen," and result in as many as 110,000 Iraqis heading to Britain as refugees.

It gave no source for its report. It also did not specify any time zone when it said that the war would start at midnight.

In a radio address to Americans on Saturday, Bush said the burden rested on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "to disclose and destroy his arsenal of weapons" of mass destruction.

Iraq denies it is pursuing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, as UN inspectors continue their field work ahead of their report to the UN Security Council next month.

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