British Official: Military Strike on Iraq not Imminent

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 06, 2002

British Official: Military Strike on Iraq not Imminent

A senior member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government said on Thursday that action against Iraq was not imminent.

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A senior member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government said on Thursday that action against Iraq was not imminent.

Robin Cook, Blair's former foreign secretary and currently still a very important member of his cabinet, said no decision had been made on military action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

He also played down suggestions the weekend's hastily convened meeting between Blair and US President George Bush would be a "war summit."

"On Iraq...action is neither imminent nor is it inevitable -- therefore there is not an urgent case of parliament to return, but this is an issue we will keep under review," Cook, who is also Blair's leader of the House of Commons, told BBC radio.

Blair's spokesman also played down the prospect of an imminent war in the near future.

"There is no chance of UK troops being committed to military action.... We are not at that stage," the spokesman told reporters.

Blair is scheduled to fly to America on Saturday to meet Bush at the US president's Camp David retreat. They are expected to hold talks on how to tackle Iraq and work out how to rally world support.

British newspapers referred to the meeting as a "war summit," at which the two leaders would "mastermind the destruction" of Saddam Hussein's regime.

But Blair's spokesman dismissed such suggestions.

"Saturday's meeting is not a council of war. It is an opportunity for the president and the prime minister to discuss the range of issues that flow from Iraq's continuing breach of United Nations Security Council Resolutions," he said.

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