With a US-led attack on Iraq a looming threat, organisers of the Davos forum said on Tuesday that their annual meeting of the world's business and political elite would be dominated by the issues of war and terrorism.

"I cannot remember the annual meeting take place at such a special moment, special in terms of complexity, in terms of fragility and also in terms of the vulnerability of the present global situation," said World Economic Forum founder and president Klaus Schwab.

The WEF meeting in the chic mountain-top resort from January 23 to 28 will coincide with the United Nations weapons inspectors' report to the Security Council on their search for Baghdad's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

The United States, which has threatened Iraq with war if it does not admit to having the weapons, and its closest ally, Britain, say the January 27 report could be crucial, although not necessarily a trigger for fighting.

Davos, which in the past has seen peace talks in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, could host a meeting between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and North Korean officials, if the latter turn up.

North Korea, which has sparked an international outcry by resuming its nuclear programme and pulling out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, has been invited to send a high-level delegation, but so far there has no response, WEF officials told a news conference to present the programme.

But Powell will be there and so will Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will be making his first European appearance since sweeping to victory in elections last October in Latin America's largest country.

More than 1,000 corporate chiefs, 250 political leaders, 200 media executives and 200 prominent activists for social change are to attend the 33rd annual WEF meeting amid tight security in the Davos ski resort that is Europe's highest city.

The WEF moved the event to New York last year to show solidarity with America's financial capital in the aftermath of the devastating September 11 suicide hijack attacks in 2001.

The Swiss government plans to deploy the army to protect delegates. Unauthorised planes over Davos risk being shot down.

Schwab played down prospects that Davos could be a magnet for terrorists bent on striking a high-profile blow.

"The fact that personalities like the US Attorney General and others are participating should show you that this question has been taken care of," he said.

Unlike in 2001, anti-globalisation protesters will be let into the mountain resort. Activists ran riot in Zurich and other Swiss cities last time when the police blocked off Davos.