CRAWFORD (USA): The prospect of a US-British war against Iraq remained on the horizon on Friday as Tony Blair arrived in Texas for one-to-one talks with the US president, George Bush, about options for tackling Saddam Hussein.

Bush, in an interview broadcast on UK television on Friday, signalled that even Iraqi compliance with UN demands on weapons inspections might not be enough to avoid war.

Asked if he had made up his mind on whether Iraq should be attacked, he said: “I made up my mind that Saddam needs to go. That’s about all I’m willing to share with you.” The US is committed to a regime change but it is not yet a British or European objective.

The timetable for any action in Iraq may have to be pushed back. The impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the rest of the Arab world has made Washington jittery about embarking prematurely on its Iraq adventure.

According to a US official on Friday, Bush and Blair will have to decide during their meeting at the US president’s Prairie Chapel ranch at Crawford, Texas, whether events in Israel and the occupied territories will mean that military action against Iraq will have to be postponed.

Asked whether the Israeli-Palestinian crisis had derailed the administration’s plans to confront Saddam, the US official said: ”No, the two issues advance in parallel. What is at issue is timing and that is something that is going to be covered this weekend.”

Bush, in an interview on British television, confirmed that Iraq would be on the agenda and that he and Blair would discuss “all options” but there were “no immediate plans” for action.

No action had been contemplated until the end of this year or early next but it may have to be put off even longer unless the Israelis and Palestinians can be brought to the negotiating table.

Blair, speaking to journalists, played down Iraq and sought to keep the focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Asked whether resolving the latest Middle East crisis was a pre-condition for action against Iraq, Blair replied: “The Middle East is something we should be trying to resolve on its own merit, in its own right.”

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq are now intertwined: continued Israeli-Palestinian violence could prevent a US-British attack on Iraq; a reduction in violence in Israel and the occupied territories could provide a green light for an Iraqi war.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.