The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has again declined to rule out the possible extension of military action to include Iraq as part of the "war" against international terrorism.
His comments came as the Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Iraq would accept only a straightforward rollover of its oil-for-food deal with the UN.
He said the US and British ideas of revamping the sanctions were finished.
Mr Blair was challenged in the Commons yesterday by a Labour backbencher, Mr Neil Gerrard, specifically to rule out action against Iraq, Sudan, Somalia or Yemen "in the light of repeated statements by senior US politicians and officials, including President Bush, that countries other than Afghanistan may become targets for the US." Mr Blair said it was important to note that President Bush had confined himself to the suggestion that Saddam Hussein should open his country to international weapons inspectors, and said any second phase in the international coalition's campaign would be "deliberative and considered" while repeating the previous formula that that action was presently focused on Afghanistan.
Mr Blair "totally agreed" with President Bush's assertion that countries which harboured terrorists or developed weapons to be used by them would themselves be treated as terrorists. He told MPs: "I have always said there would be two phases of this operation. The first is in Afghanistan and our military action is focused in Afghanistan. The second is, in a deliberative and considered way, to take what action we can against international terrorism in all its forms."
The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, yesterday backed calls by Amnesty International for a public inquiry into the US-led attacks on rioting pro-Taliban prisoners earlier this week.
British Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, said the military action against Osama bin Laden may be extended to targets in other countries where his al-Qaeda network has found sanctuary.