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Action against Iraq not imminent: Blair

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JULY 25. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, today scotched speculation that military action against Iraq was imminent, and indicated that a confrontation could still be averted if the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, agreed to let the U.N. weapons inspectors back into the country.

At a press conference here this morning, his repeated response to anxious queries on Iraq was that no decision had yet been taken on how to `deal' with the `threat' posed by Baghdad, and insisted that a military attack was "not imminent''.

Urging critics "not to get ahead of ourselves'', he said there were many issues which needed to be considered before coming to a decision.

Mr. Blair's emphatic denial that plans for an attack on Iraq were already in place came amid growing pressure from his own party MPs to assure them that Britain would not support any action without consulting Parliament. Several Labour MPs have voiced fear that an attack might take place while Parliament is in recess and sought a commitment from Mr. Blair that he would convene a special session to seek its approval before taking the plunge.

However, Mr. Blair today refused to give any such commitment but said that when it (action) "becomes a reality'' the Government would consult Parliament. He reminded his critics that Parliament was taken into confidence when Afghanistan was attacked after the September 11 outrage. MPs made a distinction between confronting Parliament with a fait accompli and actually seeking its approval before taking a decision. They want a vote to be taken on whether Britain should support any U.S. military action in Iraq.

This was second of Mr. Blair's "U.S.-style'' press conferences aimed at making himself more accessible to the media and refuting allegations of "spin". He declined to be drawn into a controversy over the Archbishop-designate of Canterbury, Rowan Williams' strong criticism of the moves against Iraq and said he was "perfectly entitled to express his views''. But as for his own views, he maintained that the weapons of mass destruction developed or acquired by Baghdad did pose a serious threat to world peace, and it needed to be dealt with. But how that was to be done had not been decided.

He sounded defensive when asked why a dossier on Iraq, which the U.S. and British Governments were supposed to have released several months ago, had been withheld. He said it would be released at the "right moment''. Asked when that would be, he weakly smiled and said "when I decide''.

Answering a host of questions on Northern Ireland, Mr. Blair warned Sinn Fein that it must rein in the IRA if it wanted to remain in the coalition government in the province. He said it could not continue to be in power and yet be seen to be condoning violence.

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