Saddam left us no option: Straw

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has declared that Saddam Hussein left Britain and America with "no option" but to use force to strip him of his weapons of mass destruction.

Following the overnight air attacks on Iraqi targets by US warplanes, Mr Straw strongly defended the coalition's military action.

He said the latest report by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to the Security Council in New York showed that the Iraqis had still not accounted for their missing weapons.

UN Security Council resolution 1441, passed four months ago, had given Saddam a final opportunity to disarm.

"He has rejected that opportunity by once again responding with his familiar pattern of deceit, concealment and delay," said Mr Straw.

"We have been left with no option but to use force."

Mr Straw, who was due to travel with the Prime Minister to the EU summit in Brussels, dismissed claims by the French that Saddam could be disarmed at a "leisurely pace" through continued weapons inspections. He said that resolution 1441 had always made clear force would have to be used if Saddam did not disarm peacefully.

"It is the case that 1441 required that force should be used if Saddam failed to comply by peaceful means," he said. "He has now triggered those conditions."

He added that Britain and the US wanted to see an end to the suffering of the Iraqi people and supported their "plain wish" to be rid of Saddam Hussein.

He disclosed that the Department for International Development had been given £20 million for humanitarian relief operations in Iraq with a further £30 million also available. In addition £30 million was also being released to the armed forces specifically for humanitarian relief work.

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