Iraqi dossier offers little change says PM

By FRANCESCA MOLD political reporter

The British Government's case against Saddam Hussein underlines the need to get weapons inspectors into Iraq, says the Prime Minister.

Helen Clark said yesterday that British leader Tony Blair had put forward a strong case for ensuring Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were found and destroyed.

But she said the dossier released by Mr Blair this week did not include any new information that would require New Zealand to relax its opposition to unilateral military action. The dossier reinforced the need to get weapons inspectors into Iraq as soon as possible as step one of the plan, Helen Clark said.

Destroying what they found was the second step and then the issue must be brought back to the United Nations security council for a decision on any further action.

At an emergency session of the British Parliament yesterday, Mr Blair said he would like to make Baghdad disarm peacefully through a new UN resolution but the use of force must be held in reserve.

"Our case is simply this. Not that we take military action come what may. But that the case for ensuring Iraqi disarmament is overwhelming," he said. "Alongside the diplomacy there must be genuine preparedness and planning to take action if diplomacy fails."

He cited evidence from the dossier that Iraq could launch a chemical or biological warhead with less than an hour's notice and said the regime could be only a year or two away from possessing a nuclear bomb.

Helen Clark said Mr Blair's comments emphasised Britain's desire to act strongly against any build-up of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

But she said the British leader had not tried to make a case for unilateral action against the Iraqi regime led by Saddam Hussein.

"He does not set out to persuade the Commons that the British should be invading." she said.

Helen Clark said Mr Blair's dossier brought together useful information and put it into the public arena, but it had not raised anything she was not already aware of.

National Party leader Bill English said his party supported the plan to make progress against Iraq through international legal processes. But it was important to back that up with a credible threat of force.

He accused the Government of being one of the toughest international critics of the US and Britain over the Iraq issue, saying Helen Clark was being careful to placate the left of her party.

President George W. Bush yesterday praised Mr Blair for making a strong case against Iraq in what the White House called a frightening portrait of Saddam Hussein's "murderous ways".

But although the British dossier may have been intended to bolster Mr Blair against critics of his pro-American stance, it failed to impress many of his own Labour colleagues.

Sixty-four legislators, including 53 from Labour, registered a protest against the Government with a symbolic vote to adjourn the debate. Many said they would oppose Blair if he demanded military action.

Most British newspapers said Mr Blair had not made a convincing case that urgent military action was needed.

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