Britain and the US have adopted a "shared strategy" for dealing with Saddam Hussein.
Speaking after key talks with US President George W Bush at Camp David last night (Irish time), British premier Mr Tony Blair said "the broadest possible international support" is required for dealing with the threat posed by what he says are Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Blair said: "We have a shared analysis, a shared determination to deal with the issue of weapons of mass destruction and a shared desire to deal with it on the basis of the broadest possible international support.
"We have a shared strategy on how we believe this should go forward and I think that is based on an absolute determination that we have to deal with the issue, that doing nothing about it is not an option.
Asked how much time it would take before action was taken, Mr Blair replied: "It's important that we get on and deal with it because these issues are pressing, in the sense that the Iraqi regime has weapons of mass destruction - we know that - and it's important for us therefore to make sure we deal with it as swiftly as we possibly can.
"If we are being responsible about this we deal with it as swiftly as the time for these consultations allows."
President Bush said the world must act arguing the Iraqi leader has defied the UN and reneged on promises to destroy weapons of mass destruction.
"We owe it to future generations to deal with this problem," Mr Bush said.
"The policy of inaction is not a policy we can responsibly subscribe to ... a lot of people understand that this man has defied every UN resolution. Sixteen UN resolutions he's ignored," Mr Bush said.
Last night's meeting came five days before Mr Bush addresses the UN. The president is expected to challenge the international community to take quick, tough action to disarm Saddam, saying that without allied help the US will act on its own to remove Saddam, according to advisers involved in writing the speech.
Mr Bush will tell the UN that there is no time to waste; one early draft refers to Iraq as a "ticking time bomb".
Senior Bush advisers acknowledge that the President is setting the stage for a confrontation with Saddam, with the UN speech a last-ditch attempt to build an international coalition.
Mr Bush assumes the showdown will eventually lead to military action, aides said. Key allies - including France, Germany and Russia - oppose the use of force against Iraq.
Mr Bush said that before they were denied access to Iraq in 1998 UN weapons inspectors concluded that Saddam was "six months away from developing a weapon".
He also cited satellite photographs released by a UN agency on Friday that show unexplained construction at Iraqi sites that weapons inspectors once visited to search for evidence Saddam was trying to develop nuclear arms.
"I don't know what more evidence we need," Mr Bush said.
The session focused on "the importance of rallying the international community" behind dealing with the threat Saddam poses, said Bush spokesman Mr Sean McCormack.
Mr Bush is strongly considering a UN Security Council resolution that would set a deadline for Iraq to open its weapons sites to unfettered inspection and to apply punitive action if the Iraqi President refuses.
AP & PA