LONDON, March 18: A third British minister resigned on Tuesday to protest against Prime Minister Tony Blair’s backing for a war on Iraq.

Home Office Minister John Denham said he was quitting because he could not vote in support of the government for a House of Commons motion to endorse a military strike on Baghdad.

“I met the prime minister this morning to explain my reasons,” he said. The Leader of the House of Commons, Robin Cook, who was foreign minister during the Kosovo crisis, resigned Monday, followed Tuesday by junior health minister Lord Philip Hunt.—AFP