IRAQ: THE MARCH TO WAR: My views have not changed one jot or iota.

TONY BLAIR yesterday refused to condemn US warmongers spoiling for a fight with Iraq and warned: "Doing nothing is not an option."

The PM defied world opinion and growing Labour Party unrest to renew his backing for President Bush in the tense stand-off with Saddam Hussein.

But he stopped short of supporting US plans to topple Saddam and insisted the priority was to force him to allow UN inspectors to destroy his stockpile of chemical and biological weapons.

Mr Blair spoke as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw tried to ease the concerns of Labour MPs by pledging that Parliament would be recalled if military action was imminent. But former deputy Labour leader Lord Healey warned that a strike on Saddam would be so unpopular with the public that it could cost Labour the next election.

The PM broke his month-long public silence to play down dire warnings of military action from US vice president Dick Cheney and defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

As he left yesterday on a three-day visit to southern Africa, Mr Blair seemed confident of reining in the "hawks" in Washington who are demanding a massive military strike and of rebuilding the crumbling international coalition.

He said: "I would wait and see what happens. There is a track record we have. In Kosovo and Afghanistan we acted both times in a calm, sensible and measured way, with the broadest possible international support. Nothing has changed in the last few months. There has been masses of speculation, but my views have not changed one jot or iota.

"The issue of weapons of mass destruction - biological, chemical and nuclear weapons - is an issue where the world cannot stand by and allow Iraq to be in flagrant breach of all UN resolutions.

"Doing nothing is not an option, but that is the only decision taken so far. What we have to do about that is an open question."

He admitted that support from Europe for US action remained crucial to its success. "The only people who gain from Europe and America dividing are the bad guys."

Aides of Mr Blair privately conceded the task of holding together an international coalition was increasingly difficult as more countries went public in their opposition to military action.

But both the White House and Downing Street insisted there was no rift between President Bush and Mr Blair. A Downing Street source said: "The language may be different, but they share a common unity of purpose."

The PM's attempts to play down the prospect of immediate action against Saddam were echoed by the Mr Straw who insisted military action was "not imminent".

He said: "A great deal of this debate would be avoided if Saddam Hussein did what he was required to do by international law, which is to readmit the weapons inspectors without conditions and without restrictions."

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