As President George W. Bush's "moment of truth" dawned on Monday, Western countries began withdrawing diplomats from the Middle East in anticipation of an impending U.S.-war on Iraq.

The withdrawals began after Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar met in the Azores on Sunday. After their meeting, the three leaders gave the United Nations a deadline of Monday to endorse the use of force as the ultimate way to compel Iraq's immediate disarmament. "Tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," Bush said on Sunday.

In response to Bush's demand, France remained firmly opposed to any new resolution in the U.N. Security Council that would authorize a war. "I see no way that this resolution can be considered," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin (photo) said in a radio interview on Monday morning.

France can wield veto

France holds a key position among opponents to a U.S.-led war because it can use its veto on the Security Council to block a resolution.

Germany, a rotating council member without veto power, shares France's opposition. In a television interview on Sunday evening, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder acknowledged that he had doubts about the chances of preventing a war at this point. "But I have not given up hope," Schröder said on the public television station ZDF.

The chancellor also suggested that the key to ending the crisis was the continued weapons inspections program. "I think the inspectors should get the time that they have asked for," he said.

Even though Schröder continues to hope for peace, his Foreign Ministry is preparing for war. The last German diplomat in Baghdad, Claude-Robert Ellner, left the Iraqi capital on Monday after closing the embassy, the news agency Agence France Presse reported. Over the weekend, the Foreign Ministry also urged all Germans in Iraq to leave the country.

Citizens urged to leave Kuwait

The United States and Britain issued a similar call on Monday to their citizens living in Kuwait, the Iraqi neighbor that Saddam Hussein's forces invaded in 1990. The call was issued a day after the U.S. State Department ordered all of its employee to leave Israel, Syria, Kuwait, the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip.

Amid fears that war is imminent, U.N. observers stopped their work on the Iraqi-Kuwait border on Monday and waited to hear whether they would go home. A day earlier, U.N. weapons inspectors flew most of their helicopters out of Iraq.

Those preparations were followed on Monday by a U.S. recommendation that the U.N. inspectors withdraw from Iraq.

Over the weekend, Saddam (photo) made his own preparations for war, sidestepping the military chain of command to place one of his sons and three other trusted aides in charge of the nation's defense. In a meeting with military commanders Sunday, the Iraqi leader threatened a broader war if the United States attacked. "When the enemy starts a large-scale battle, he must realize that the battle between us will be open wherever there is sky, land and water in the entire world," Saddam told his commanders, according to the official Iraqi News Agency.

Even before the Azores meeting began, Bush and his advisers were preparing for combat as well, working on a major war address that he could deliver as early as Monday night. The speech would give Saddam a final ultimatum to disarm or face war, probably within days, senior officials said.

The military preparations are largely complete. Nearly 300,000 American and British troops are stationed in the Persian Gulf region.They are backed by a naval armada and an estimated 1,000 combat aircraft.