British cabinet member and former foreign secretary, Mr Robin Cook, said today action against Iraq was not imminent despite this weekend's "war summit" between Mr Tony Blair and Mr George W. Bush.
Mr Cook rebuffed calls for parliament to debate Iraq in urgent session, saying no decision had been made on military action.
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"On Iraq . . . action is neither imminent nor is it inevitable, therefore there is not an urgent case of parliament to return, but this is an issue we will keep under review," Mr Cook, who is the leader of the House of Commons, told BBC radio.
He said the key to success in tackling Saddam was to ensure that any action had the backing of the broadest possible coalition of allies.
"The question is how we go about making sure that [Saddam] is frustrated in his military ambitions - and it's very important in doing that, that we carry with us the broadest possible international coalition.
"We were successful in Afghanistan because we did have that international coalition and the Taliban were isolated. If we want to succeed in Iraq, we've got to do the same toward Saddam - make sure that the world is with us, and not with him".
Mr Bush announced yesterday he will meet Mr Blair on Saturday for talks. The US president also said he would consult leaders of Russia, China, France and Canada before he sets out his case against Saddam in a speech to the United Nations on September 12th.
Mr Bush's aides say he has made no decisions about using force, but he made it clear he would not stand by and allow Iraq continue in what he says are its efforts to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.