Hoon at odds with Straw over need to uncover weapons

The Defence Secretary has put himself at odds with the Foreign Secretary over the need to uncover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Geoff Hoon said finding them was essential to justify the war.However, that contradicted suggestions by Jack Straw, who said a weapons find was not needed to make the war in Iraq legitimate in international law.

Mr Straw appeared earlier this week to prepare the ground for the Allies' eventual failure to uncover an arsenal. He said Iraq's failure to account for its weapons stocks was enough to justify war, while senior Foreign Office officials said a weapons find would be a bonus for the Allies.

But Mr Hoon, in an interview with The Spectator, said he stood by the Government's argument that the threat from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was the main reason for going to war. Asked whether it was essential to find chemical or biological weapons to justify the war, Mr Hoon said: "Well, that was the reason we gave, which I stand by, for taking military action against Saddam Hussein's regime. We're confident that weapons of mass destruction are there. We now have to find them."

Mr Hoon added: "Bear in mind that we also committed ourselves to stay within international law, as we interpreted it in the United Kingdom, and the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction was the reason for taking action."

Legal advice to the Government, released by the Attorney General before the war, said military action was justified under United Nations Security Council resolutions authorising action to restore peace and security in the region after the 1991 Gulf War. Allied forces are investigating nearly 1,000 potential weapons sites.

Tony Blair was mocked by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday for the Allies' failure so far to uncover the vast stocks of weapons of mass destruction that Britain and American claimed President Saddam Hussein possessed.

Mr Hoon said a determined effort had been made to hide Iraq's weapons. "We are not talking about hiding needles in haystacks, we're talking about moving the haystacks," he said. He also confirmed that Britain wanted an "independent element" in the verification of any weapons find, which could include the UN. But such a third party could be a "country not involved in the coalition".

* British diplomats will return to Baghdad this weekend after 12 years away, Mr Straw announced yesterday. The de facto embassy will be headed by Christopher Segar, who was deputy head of mission at the embassy before it was evacuated at the time of the 1991 Gulf War, with three staff initially.

The British office, which will receive full embassy status once an interim authority in Baghdad is in place, will be the first deployment of the so-called "flat-pack embassy". Three containers will be flown from Kuwait to Baghdad and set up on a cricket pitch in the grounds of the old embassy. Staff will work in the modular units until the embassy building has been deemed safe. There are fears that the building is structurally unsound.