One last chance for Iraq, says Blair

3.00pm - by PAUL WAUGH

LONDON - Tony Blair will challenge the United Nations to reassert its moral authority by giving Iraq "one last chance" to readmit weapons inspectors before facing US-led military action.

In a speech in Blackpool tomorrow, the Prime Minister will underline Anglo-American efforts to build international support against President Saddam and stress that Iraqi leader cannot be allowed to develop chemical, biological and possibly nuclear weapons.

The Prime Minister's address comes two days before Thursday's crucial speech by President Bush to the UN General Assembly. It will lay the ground for President Bush's expected ultimatum to world leaders that unless swift and strong measures are taken against Iraq the US will be forced to act on its own.

Downing Street refused to comment last night on US reports claiming that Britain would lead the diplomatic offensive by tabling a new UN resolution giving Baghdad four weeks to allow inspectors back in with unfettered access and backed up by "one strike and you're out" military force.

Fresh from his Camp David summit yesterday with the American President, Mr Blair will seek to win over doubters both at home and abroad by emphasising that the UN can take a central role in tackling Saddam if it is serious about the need for action.

"The Prime Minister will say … that the UN, as the representative body of the international community is the right place to be addressing issues like this, but it has to be on the basis that it is going to address it and deal with it," a senior government source said.

President Bush's speech to the UN will open the door to a possible new round of inspections, a move that would represent a victory for Mr Blair's approach and a setback for the more hawkish elements in the White House.

But despite the last-ditch effort by London and Washington to "internationalise" the crisis, it emerged that the Prime Minister and President Bush had discussed detailed strategies to remove the Iraqi leader from power while preventing the disintegration of his country.

High-level military officials secretly attended the Camp David summit as the options were outlined to Mr Blair and a post-Saddam Iraq was sketched out.

In a strong sign that the endgame was being discussed in detail, one senior British official travelling with Mr Blair said Afghanistan had proved the need to use people on the ground to achieve regime change.

"We need to get across the message to the Iraqi people that we do not see them in the same light as Saddam and his regime and emphasise the territorial integrity of Iraq will be there for the long term," he said.

Iraqi exiles have told the Americans that while they could tolerate federalisation of their country to include Kurds and Marsh Arabs, they will not tolerate the break-up of Iraq.

With both Britain and the US conceding that they have been losing the battle for public opinion Mr Blair and Mr Bush are now expected to publish a dossier of evidence against Saddam next week.

Timed to come out before the Labour Party conference, the dossier will build on other reports, such as that published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies today, by exposing just how actively the Iraqi leadership is seeking weapons of mass destruction.

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