Blair warns Saddam of action soon as al-Qaida link grows

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday warned that time was running out for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to disarm and said there was evidence of growing links between Iraq and al-Qaida.

Mr Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, both staunch US allies on Iraq, told a joint news conference in Rome that they wanted to see a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

But they said international resolve to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction, even through the use of force, remained solid.