Nato chief calls for caution over military strikes on Iraq

Nato might support military action against Iraq if convincing evidence was found linking Saddam Hussein's regime to terrorism, the alliance's secretary general said yesterday.

But Lord Robertson of Port Ellen joined British ministers in playing down the prospect of early military strikes against Iraq. Although hawks in the Bush administration want to complete the "unfinished business" of the Gulf War, Tony Blair fears such action could break up the international coalition against terrorism forged after the 11 September attacks and has sided with the "doves" led by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State.

Lord Robertson echoed Mr Blair's caution yesterday when he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If more evidence comes forward and people are convinced by it then other courses of action may be embarked upon. But until that happens, I don't think people should jump to conclusions."

Lord Robertson, Britain's former defence secretary, said: "Clearly if there was evidence pointing towards Saddam Hussein being responsible in any way for the atrocities of September 11, or if it was found that he was harbouring people who were intimately connected with that, then I think the world would jump automatically to the conclusion that he represented a bigger threat.

"So far the Americans themselves have publicly said that they don't see evidence linking bin Laden to Saddam Hussein's regime. But if the evidence came forward, then I think the international community and Nato itself would want to look and examine that evidence and to work out what then should be done about it."

Lord Robertson rejected criticism that Nato had been sidelined in the war in Afghanistan, saying it was never going to be "the coalition of first choice" for the conflict. "Nato is still the cornerstone of European-Atlantic security and has provided invaluable political and indeed military support to the coalition so far," he said. "I don't think you should say that just because Nato has not been used as yet in Afghanistan that Nato's role has been diminished."

He said a combination of Nato and diplomacy by the European Union had prevented a civil war in Macedonia, and the organisation was "perfectly capable of rising to even bigger challenges".

Lord Robertson said he did not believe Russia would join Nato but predicted ever-closer links between the two.