BRUSSELS: In an increasingly anxious chorus, the United States’ closest allies are urging President George W. Bush against early military action to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The warnings from key European and Middle East allies — except Britain — come amid signs of fierce debate within the Bush administration about military options for overthrowing Saddam, accused by Washington of developing weapons of mass destruction.

The leaders of France and Germany cautioned on Tuesday that they could not support a US assault on Iraq — home to the world’s second biggest oil reserves — without a UN mandate, which US and British officials argue is not legally necessary.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, whose country would be a vital base for any US strike on Iraq, said on Wednesday he was trying to dissuade Washington from a military operation.

And Jordan’s King Abdullah, due to meet Bush on Wednesday, told a British newspaper this week: “In the light of the failure to move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward, military action against Iraq would really open Pandora’s box.”

Diplomats say the sudden hardening of the allies’ public tone may have been prompted by media reports that one option under consideration in Washington may envisage a quick strike before the US mid-term elections in November.

However, Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is holding hearings on Iraq this week, said he did not expect the Republican administration to launch military action before next year.

Schroeder said he did not doubt Bush would keep to his word and consult allies before any decision. However, a senior European official said it was proving very difficult to get any trans-Atlantic discussion of the divisive issue.

With London newspapers publishing a steady trickle of leaks suggesting up to 30,000 British soldiers could take part in a US-led invasion perhaps early next year, many Labour lawmakers are demanding that parliament authorize any involvement.

Blair has declined to give such a commitment.

Bush can’t expect greater German support if conservative challenger Edmund Stoiber wins a September general election.

Stoiber said on Wednesday the world might stand “on the eve of a war between America and Iraq” but he wanted to avoid such a conflict by strengthening Europe’s voice.

While European and Arab allies agree on the need to pressure Saddam to admit and cooperate with UN weapons inspectors, most see the prospect of another Gulf War as deeply destabilizing for the Middle East, and potentially for the fragile world economy.

Given the Bush administration’s aversion to long-term “nation-building”, some European policy-makers fear Europe could be landed with the brunt of the reconstruction and peacekeeping burden, while US oil companies take the contracts.—Reuters