Blair to his Cabinet - Saddam and his weapons must be stopped

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair told his Cabinet on Monday that policies aimed at containing Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction have failed and the Iraqi leader must be stopped, Blair's spokesman said.

Briefing senior ministers one day before the release of a dossier on Iraq's weapons programs, Blair said it was clear from intelligence reports that Saddam was continuing to build his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, the spokesman said.

"The truth is the policy of containment has not worked," Blair was quoted as telling a special Cabinet meeting at his 10 Downing St. office Monday night. "He has been able to make progress ... and has to be stopped."

Blair has faced some dissent within his Cabinet about possible U.S.-led military action against Iraq, and he wanted to brief its members about the dossier on the dangers posed by Saddam.

The Blair spokesman, briefing reporters on condition that he not be identified by name, did not say whether dissent emerged during the leader's closed meeting with his Cabinet.