Tony Blair urges more time for arms inspectors
UN weapons inspectors will get more time to try to establish the truth about Saddam Hussein's efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.
So says Tony Blair in a speech to Labour's spring conference in Glasgow.
It's the British Prime Minister's first reaction to Hans Blix's crucial report on Iraq's arms programme.
Mr Blair emphasised that the international community had to demonstrate determination and resolution if Saddam was to be disarmed.
He told delegates: "I hope, even now, Iraq can be disarmed peacefully, with or without Saddam.
"But if we show weakness now, if we allow the plea for more time to become just an excuse for prevarication until the moment for action passes, then it will not only be Saddam who is repeating history.
"The menace, and not just from Saddam, will grow; the authority of the UN will be lost; and the conflict when it comes will be more bloody.''
Mr Blair said he wanted the UN to be the means of dealing with the crisis. But the UN had to ensure that its resolutions were implemented.
