LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday an attack on Iraq was not imminent.

"We are all getting a bit ahead of ourselves," Blair told reporters in his Downing Street office.

"It is not imminent, we are not at the point of decision yet. There are many issues to be considered before we are at the point of decision."

Blair refused to commit to giving parliament a vote ahead of any military action aimed at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Many members of his own party oppose an onslaught against Baghdad and are demanding a say in parliament.

Blair has stood staunchly beside President Bush since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, making it difficult to decouple from the United States if it did target Saddam.

The United States has accused Iraq of being part of an axis of evil, allegedly supporting terrorism and seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction. International weapons inspectors left Iraq in December 1998 and have not returned.

"Saddam is in breach of all the United Nations resolutions," Blair said. "Weapons of mass destruction are an issue. Iraq's position in relation to weapons of mass destruction is an issue but we have taken no decisions as to how to deal with it."

At his last appearance in parliament Wednesday, before a three-month summer break, Blair was pressed by three of his own Labor Party members over Iraq.

They demanded a fresh U.N. resolution and the chance for British politicians to have a say before any troops were committed to an attack.

He faced a similar onslaught at a closed-door meeting with Labor members of parliament. "We just got the same old stone-walling," one said.

Copyright 2002 Reuters Ltd

###