LONDON, Jan 12: Britain’s International Development Secretary Clare Short said on Sunday London should not join a unilateral US attack on Iraq and said it was Britain’s duty to restrain Washington.

Short, one of the most dovish members of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet, reflected growing unease within his Labour government at the prospect of military action unless UN weapons inspectors uncover direct evidence of Iraqi violations.

“I think it’s very dangerous. I’m very very worried,” Short told ITV’s Jonathan Dimbleby programe.

“I think all the people of Britain have a duty to keep our country firmly on the UN route, so that we stop the US maybe going to war too early, and keep the world united,” she said.

Britain, which dispatched its flagship aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal for possible war in Iraq on Saturday, has backed US President George Bush’s tough calls for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to disarm.

But Blair softened his rhetoric last week, saying the UN inspectors should be given “time and space” to do their job.

Blair is likely to travel to the United States for talks with Bush shortly after the Jan 27 deadline for chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to report to the UN security council, sources familiar with the plans said on Saturday.

British newspapers reported earlier that Blair was expected to meet Bush and Blix in an effort to prevent an early war against Iraq becoming inevitable.

Short said she believed Iraq was concealing chemical and biological weapons — in violation of UN resolutions — and did not rule out using military force against Saddam. But any attack must avoid inflicting suffering on Iraqi civilians.

“The role of the United Kingdom in this historic and dangerous time, when the world is feeling so fragile, is to try to keep the US with the UN process,” she said.

Asked if Britain would stay out of the conflict if the United States “went alone” she said: “That’s the logic of the position”.

Short said the relentless focus on Iraq, while the United States appeared to ignore Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was causing anger and distrust in the world.

“That makes the world feel there is double standards, and that doesn’t help anyone,” she said.

turkish pm in iran: Turkey’s Prime Minister Abdullah Gul took his diplomatic mission to build a regional consensus to avert an invasion of Iraq to Iran on Sunday, but said the main responsibility for heading off a conflict lay with Baghdad.

“The whole region will pay a heavy price if an attack takes place against Baghdad, so all the regional countries should try to prevent the war,” Gul told a news conference in Tehran after meetings top Iranian officials.

Gul arrived here from Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic offensive that comes amid a military buildup in the Gulf by US forces.

“To avoid war, Iraq has the main responsibility. It should comply with all UN resolutions but Iraq’s integrity must be respected as well,” Gul said.

Turkey, Iraq’s northern neighbour, is a NATO ally of Washington, but has not yet said whether it will allow US forces to use bases on its soil in any Iraq war.

Gul’s peace message found favour in Iran, which fought a bitter eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s but is strongly opposed to any attack against its western neighbour.

“I hope the regional consultations will help the Iraqi crisis to be solved peacefully to save the Iraqi people and regional interests,” the official IRNA news agency quoted President Mohammad Khatami as saying in his meeting with Gul.

“No country in the region can rely on America’s pledges. Other regional countries will be targeted if an attack against Iraq takes place,” IRNA quoted first Vice-President Hamid Reza Aref as saying during the meeting with Gul.

Several other Middle Eastern leaders are beating a path to Tehran this month as efforts to avoid conflict in Iraq increase.

Syria’s President Bashar Assad is due in Iran on Wednesday and Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah met Khatami on Sunday.

“Despite all the harm Iran and Kuwait have received from Iraq, Iran is opposed to any foreign aggression against Iraq,” Khatami said after the meeting.—Reuters