US in disarray over Iraq as Powell backs call for weapons inspectors

The Bush administration's internal differences over military action in Iraq became glaringly apparent yesterday as Colin Powell, the cautious-minded US Secretary of State, said he supported the return of UN inspectors as a "first step" towards neutralising Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Powell's words directly contradicted a series of speeches by Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said the time for inspections was over and that a pre-emptive strike was the only viable solution.

Mr Powell, speaking in an interview with the BBC to be aired next weekend, insisted that the President was in favour of sending in the inspectors, although he did not necessarily expect that to solve the problem.

"Iraq has been in violation of these many UN resolutions for most of the last 11 or so years. So as a first step, let's see what the inspectors find, send them back in, why are they being kept out," Mr Powell said.

The Secretary of State also acknowledged the need to sell the rationale for war to America's allies. "The world has to be presented with the information, with the intelligence that is available," he said. "A debate is needed within the international community so that everybody can make a judgement about this." It was not immediately clear if Mr Powell's words reflected a growing hesitation within the administration. A spokesman for the administration yesterday denied any rift.

Mr Powell's statement came as Tony Blair faced fresh calls to publish a dossier of evidence to substantiate claims about the dangers of President Saddam's arsenal of biological and nuclear weapons. Tory MPs joined their Labour and Liberal Democrat colleagues and trades unionists yesterday in calling for the Prime Minister to publish the evidence.

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith urged Mr Blair to spell out the "clear and growing danger" represented by President Saddam. But divisions among Conservative MPs also emerged yesterday after Mr Duncan Smith and the Tory chairman, Theresa May, said the party backed a military strike against President Hussein.

Senior Tory MPs such as Peter Ainsworth and Sir Peter Tapsell expressed concern about their leader's position and said UK support for military action should only be a last resort after diplomatic avenues had been exhausted. Their comments came after Mr Duncan Smith said in a Sunday newspaper that the question was not whether the Allies dealt with Hussein "but when and how".

¿ Seventy-one per cent of Britons oppose joining a war on Iraq without United Nations approval, according to an ICM poll for the Daily Mirror and GMTV.