BRITAIN: Mr Tony Blair has warned France and Russia against letting Saddam Hussein "off the hook" amid growing fears of a UK/US defeat over a second UN resolution authorising war on Iraq.
Sources in Downing Street, the prime minister's office and residence, were last night actually declaring increased confidence that Mr Blair and President Bush could still win majority support in the Security Council vote which the Americans are determined should take place within days.
However, some commentators detected a growing sense of desperation in the Prime Minister's warning that to split Europe from the United States would be "a very, very dangerous thing to do", on a day which saw some Labour MPs openly discuss the possibility of a special party conference to challenge Mr Blair's leadership.
Mr Tam Dalyell, the MP with the longest unbroken service and consequently the Father of the House of Commons, suggested Mr Blair could be asked to "consider his position" should he commit British forces to war without UN authority or without a prior vote of the House of Commons.
His intervention followed reports on Tuesday night that Labour constituency parties were being urged to table resolutions demanding a special conference to oppose Mr Blair over any unilateral UK/US action.
Labour Party chairman Dr John Reid dismissed the leadership plotting as the work of "the usual suspects", and noted that Mr Dalyell had taken similar positions over the first Gulf War, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Dr Reid also insisted the prime minister enjoyed the support of the vast majority of Labour members.
However, while few close observers seriously rate the possibility of a leadership challenge at a point when Mr Blair might commit troops to action, the open discussion of his future prospects confirmed an unprecedented internal challenge to his authority.
And while describing talk of a leadership challenge as unhelp- ful, former cabinet minister Mr Chris Smith - who spear-headed the first parliamentary revolt when 121 Labour MPs opposed Mr Blair over Iraq - predicted an even larger parliamentary rebellion, and ministerial resignations, should Mr Blair proceed to war without explicit UN authority.
Those pressures added to the sense of mounting desperation in Britain's ongoing effort to win-over the "waverers" with further amendments to the draft second resolution, providing a series of "benchmark" tests for Iraqi intention to comply with the UN's disarmament demands.
While confirming they too expected the UN vote this week, British sources were indicating yesterday that the campaign to win at least nine votes in the Security Council could see the "deadline" for military action extended beyond March 17th.
Number 10's hope is that a majority for the second resolution could "change the dynamics" of the situation within the Security Council, leading France or Russia or both to withdraw their "veto" threat or, alternatively, enabling Mr Blair to argue that a veto in such circumstances was "capricious" or "unreasonable".
But the prime minister's official spokesman last night gave an emphatic "No" to reported demands from the six wavering countries for an extra 45 days, insisting: "It doesn't take days for Saddam to confirm he is willing to comply and fully co-operate." At the same time Mr Blair faced fresh warnings about the possible illegality of military action without UN sanction, while a former British ambassador to the UN, Sir Crispin Tickell, challenged Mr Blair's view that he could discount any veto by one of the permanent five members of the Security Council.
Sir Crispin said he feared "serious consequences" should the US and UK ignore a veto: "A veto is a veto is a veto," he told the BBC's World at One programme.