Britain 'wants clear UN ultimatum'

Britain wants a United Nations resolution on Iraq containing “a clear ultimatum” to Saddam Hussein that he will face military action unless he dismantles his weapons of mass destruction, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon indicated today.

Mr Hoon said a resolution should contain a “sting in the tail” threatening a military strike in order to convince Baghdad of the seriousness with which the international community viewed his continuing defiance of existing UN resolutions relating to his arsenal.