BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister has confirmed that Britain and United States will put their draft resolution seeking UN approval for military action against Iraq to the vote at the United Nations.
Despite the increasing threat of a diplomatic collision with France, Russia and Germany, Mr Tony Blair yesterday told MPs he remained confident he would secure the UN's backing.
With the latest opinion poll showing growing British (75 per cent) support for war provided there was clear evidence that Saddam Hussein was concealing weapons of mass destruction and that the UN approved military action, Downing Street last night insisted there was an "inescapable logic" to UN Resolution 1441 threatening "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to disarm.
In the Commons, Mr Blair maintained that war could be avoided even at this stage. "To those who say we are hell-bent on conflict, we still say it can be avoided if he \ does what the UN and the international community demanded that he do." The alternative path to peace, he said, was for Saddam to leave the country.
During question time, Mr Blair first told the Conservative leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, that while the timing of any vote at the UN was still under discussion, he hoped there would be a vote on the draft second resolution.
However when the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, asked if this implied that British troops could be committed without a UN decision, Mr Blair said the proposed second resolution would "undoubtedly" be put to the vote. "We are confident of securing the votes for that resolution. We will carry on working to that end," he told him.
The threat of a French and Russian veto had prompted media speculation at Westminster that Britain and the US might decide to proceed to military action on the basis of the existing Resolution 1441. However Mr Blair's official spokesman said the British government would not have talked about a second resolution had it not been serious about securing one.