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.

“The only circumstances in which Saddam is going to disarm peacefully are circumstances in which he gets a clear, united message on behalf of the international community: ‘disarm peacefully or you will be disarmed by force’,” Mr Blair said.

“And I simply say to him that if he believes that the will of the international community has weakened in any way, he is mistaken. I think that will is there,” he added.

Mr Blair said Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida group was anxious to get its hands on the weapons of mass destruction that Washington and London believe Iraq has hidden.

“It’s probably true historically, going back some years, the links between al-Qaida and Iraq probably weren’t very significant. But it is also true that increasingly over the past period of time there is greater evidence of that,” Mr Blair said.

Mr Berlusconi yesterday told reporters that Italian intelligence services believed al-Qaida was preparing an even bigger strike than the September 11 attacks on US cities.

“Our secret services say that it is very likely that al-Qaida is preparing another attack, more disastrous and terrible than that of September 11,” he said, giving no further details.

Blair and Berlusconi have proved two of Washington’s staunchest allies during the Iraq crisis, but both men face strong opposition to their pro-US positions at home. France and

Germany have led opposition to a war on Iraq and last Saturday millions of people demonstrated around the world against a possible US-led attack.