WAR ON IRAK

Scotsman: Blair gives go-ahead for war without UN

TONY Blair last night vowed to wage war on Iraq even if the international community refuses to back a military campaign to oust Saddam Hussein.

The Prime Minister is planning to join the United States in a "renegade" attack on Iraq within two weeks, regardless of the outcome of a UN Security Council vote on the crisis which is expected within days.

Blair has instructed key government figures to prepare for "plan B" if French, German, Russian and Chinese opposition denies the British and Americans a United Nations mandate for invasion.

Diplomatic contacts between Paris and Washington DC have grown increasingly frosty, culminating in an acrimonious telephone call between President Bush and President Chirac early last week, which ended with Bush saying firmly: "President Chirac, we will not forgive and we will not forget."