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WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (AFP) - The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Arabian Sea over the weekend, putting a third US aircraft carrier battle group within striking distance of Iraq in a significant boost of firepower, military officials said Monday.

The addition of the carrier means that the United States now has well over 300 combat aircraft in the region, as well as more warships that can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, US defense officials said.

The guided missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, the guided missile cruisers USS Shiloh and USS Mobile Bay, and the guided missile frigate USS Reuben James were traveling with the carrier, said Lieutenant Cornelia Shultz, a navy spokesman.

The Lincoln joins its sisters carriers the USS Constellation, which is in the Gulf, and the USS Harry Truman, which is in the eastern Mediterranean.

A fourth aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is expected to leave for the Mediterranean later this week when it completes crew training off Puerto Rico.

Two other carriers, the Japan-based USS Kitty Hawk and the east coast-based USS George Washington, have been on alert to deploy on short notice.

Military analysts say four or five aircraft carrier battle groups should give the US military the punch it needs for an all-out attack on Iraq. Six carriers were deployed in the Gulf region during the 1991 Gulf War.

Aboard each of the carriers are about 80 aircraft, including about 50 fighter aircraft. The Lincoln is the only carrier in the fleet with a squadron of F/A-18E/F, the navy's most advanced fighter.

Baghdad predicted Monday that Washington would fail to convince the UN Security Council to go to war to disarm Iraq and warned that US unilateral action would amount to "mafia" tactics.

"I would be very surprised that the Americans would be able to convince the Security Council members of their point of view," presidential advisor General Amer Saadi told a group of visiting deputies from the European parliament.

In Washington, Powell said Monday he will not have "smoking gun" evidence of Iraq's defiance of disarmament demands but will make a "convincing case" that Baghdad possesses banned weapons.

"On Wednesday, I will present to the Security Council US intelligence showing further evidence of Iraq's pattern of deception," Powell wrote in an opinion piece appearing in Monday's "Wall Street Journal" newspaper.

"Our evidence will reinforce what the inspectors told the Security Council last week -- that they are not getting the cooperation they need, that their requests are being blocked and that their questions are going unanswered," he wrote.

"While there will be no 'smoking gun,' we will provide evidence concerning the weapons programs that Iraq is working so hard to hide," Powell wrote.

"We will, in sum, offer a straightforward, sober and compelling demonstration that Saddam is concealing the evidence of his weapons of mass destruction, while preserving the weapons themselves."

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed for strength in what he called the "final phase" of a 12-year showdown with Iraq over chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Britain's lower chamber, Blair said there is "unmistakable" evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is still withholding vital information from UN weapons inspectors.

"He has still not answered the questions concerning thousands of missing munitions and tonnes of chemical and biological agents unaccounted for," he said.

He added: "We are entering the final phase of a 12-year history of disarmament of Iraq."

"Show weakness now and no one will every believe us when we try to show strength in the future. Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, and the threats they pose to the world, must be confronted."

US President George W. Bush welcomed Bahrain's King Hamad to the White House Monday and said the monarch was a "great friend" who agrees that Iraq must be disarmed by force if it flouts a UN ultimatum.

"His majesty ... like me, hopes that we're able to resolve this issue peacefully in Iraq," Bush said during a joint appearance in the Oval Office ahead of their meeting and a subsequent dinner.

"But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm, for the sake of peace and security, for not only the people in the region but people here in america, we will go in and disarm him," Bush said, adding that the king was "incredibly supportive" of that position.

Bahrain is the home base of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet which oversees the application of the international embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990 following its invasion of Kuwait. Some 5,000 Americans, mostly military, live in the kingdom.

Responsibility for the next stage in the crisis in Iraq lies "mostly with Iraq," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Zavidovo, Russia.

Putin said the two leaders agreed that with regard to developments in the Iraqi crisis, "the responsibility lies mostly with Iraq," but he stressed also that weapons inspectors verifying Iraqi compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1441 on disarming should be given the time to complete their work.

In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said his government prefers a new UN Security Council resolution to precede any military action against Iraq.

Switzerland hopes to hold later this month in Geneva a conference on the humanitarian consequences of a war against Iraq, to be attended by countries of the region and the United States, Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said.

No date or list of countries to attend has been fixed yet, although the minister said possible invitees included representatives of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, the United States, Britain and the European Union. 

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