OTTAWA, Oct 31: Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham expressed concern on Thursday that US-led military action against Iraq, without United Nations approval, might lead to further instability in the Middle East.

Appearing before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Graham said: “There is potential instability in the region that leads us to caution.”

Canada has repeatedly said that it would support military action against Iraq if it was first approved by the United Nations.

But Ottawa has been deliberately vague about what support — if any — it would offer to a US-led coalition acting without UN approval.

US President George Bush has said the United States will act unilaterally against Iraq if the United Nations does not take firm action to disarm Iraq.

Graham suggested one major potential problems in the region is that many young people, especially men, are without work and would be willing to volunteer to fight if any conflict spread beyond Iraq.

Canada, he continued, was still hoping for agreement on the UN Security Council about how to tackle the Iraq crisis, but he insisted that the ball was in Iraq’s court.

“For over a decade, the world tried to compel Iraq to live up to its obligations to the Security Council.”

The UN Security Council, he stressed, also needs “to assume its responsibility to enforce its resolutions”.

Graham declined to answer hypothetical questions about possible US-led military action without UN approval.

“In the days and weeks ahead, Canada may indeed by faced with difficult choices,” he said.