Nato would back attack if inspectors find arms

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the Secretary General of Nato, said yesterday the alliance's full weight would be thrown behind US-led attacks on Iraq if Saddam Hussein is deemed to have breached United Nations resolutions on weapons of mass destruction.

He made clear that George Bush would not need to act unilaterally under those circumstances because Nato would face a "moral obligation" to provide support.

The weapons inspections process has continued without a break over Christmas, with the United Nations team interviewing an Iraqi scientist at Baghdad's Technology University yesterday. But Iraq said the inspectors had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in one month of checks across the country.

The Iraqi military also accused US and British warplanes of killing three people and wounding 16 when they bombed civilian targets, including a mosque, in southern Iraq. In Washington, the US military said the planes attacked Iraqi military command and control facilities after Iraqi aircraft violated the southern no-fly zone.

Lord Robertson stressed that any action by the 19 Nato members ­ including the US ­ would be governed by UN Security Council resolution 1441, which requires Saddam Hussein to abandon chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

"Up to now the US has kept very rigidly to the UN route. They still do ­ the inspectors are still there," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "What the Americans have done in Nato is to suggest a number of options where Nato could help in a military action and countries have been invited to consider that, but no decisions have yet been taken. The decision won't be taken by America. The decision will be taken by Saddam Hussein.

"Either he complies with the will of the UN, in which case no military action will be required, or he fails to comply, in which case the international community, united in resolution 1441, is going to have to do something about it. So there is certainly a military capability being put in place."

The Secretary General added: "Frankly, the history of dealing with Saddam means that unless he knows that there are going to be severe consequences, he just simply ignores the will of the international community."

Lord Robertson, a former secretary of state for defence, said the US could not act on its own because it depended on its allies for airspace and bases in the Middle East.

"All of the characteristics of the Bush administration have been to involve allies," he said. "There is a certain amount of rhetoric but President Bush has strongly placed his country in the fold of Nato and also within international, multilateral institutions."

The year ahead was likely to be filled with "risks and new threats", the Secretary General said. "On one hand the terrorists, and indeed rogue states with these weapons of mass destruction, can conceivably inflict terrible damage.

"But I think the world is now putting in place mechanisms that will deal with terrorism and also seek to prevent some of these catastrophes. Although I remain worried about these new risks, I am also optimistic that we can, and we are, putting in place mechanisms that will give us some insurance for the future."

Lord Robertson's intervention was aimed at bolstering world opinion ahead of the attacks on Iraq, expected to take place in late January or early February. The Government will also hope that his comments will reassure the Labour MPs who fear that Britain is being dragged into war by the US.