President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have agreed that all options were open on how to deal with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein over the threat he poses with weapons of mass destruction and his refusal to re-admit weapons inspectors.
President Bush explicitly reiterated his administration's policy was to change the Iraqi leadership. But Blair, who faces opposition to direct military action against Iraq, stopped short of saying it was Britain's goal to remove Saddam from power.
At a joint news conference after talks at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mr Blair said he was sure Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction and had no doubt he would use them against his enemies without hesitation.
"The issue of weapons of mass destruction cannot be ducked. It is a threat. It is a danger to the world. We must heed that threat and act to prevent it being realized," Mr Blair said.
President Bush said that all options were on the table for dealing with Iraq, and Blair agreed. But despite Mr Blair's strikingly strident tone, he gave no indication he was ready to sign on to US-led military action against Iraq, an idea that has been received coolly around the world.
Officials traveling with Mr Blair said he and President Bush had talked one-on-one and long into the night about the global war on terrorism declared after the September 11th attacks on the United States, violence in the Middle East and the issue of the threat posed by Iraq.
The two leaders also were given a briefing by the US Central Intelligence Agency early on Saturday, but officials would not divulge details.
While President Bush bluntly said he backed a regime change in Baghdad, Mr Blair was less direct.
WI can say that any sensible person looking at the position of Saddam Hussein and asking the question, 'Would the region, the world, and not least the ordinary Iraqi people, be better off without the regime of Saddam Hussein,' the only answer anyone could give to the question would be yes," he said.