THE European Union toughened its stance against President Saddam Hussein last night when after a tense summit it delivered a warning that weapons inspections could not be allowed to continue indefinitely.

Leaders, called to Brussels for an emergency summit after weeks of divisions and rancour, united around a statement demanding the disarmament of Iraq through the United Nations and an agreement that force should only be used as a last resort.

But the decision that there must a deadline for inspections was a boost for Tony Blair, under growing pressure from party and public opposition to a war unless it is backed by the United Nations. In an emotional speech to the summit the Prime Minister said: “If Saddam Hussein stays, Iraqis will pay with their lives.”

Britain also welcomed the first reference to force in a European communique.

However, those countries more cautious about war insisted on a reference to backing the ongoing work of the weapons inspectors. They said that the team must be given the “time and resources” that the UN Security Council believed that they needed.

The addition of the words “inspections cannot continue indefinitely” was insisted on by Britain, Spain, Italy and others who have backed the British-American approach. The EU statement came after Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, urged Iraq to choose “compliance over conflict” in the crisis over weapons inspections and said that international discord risked weakening pressure on Baghdad. Speaking at the summit, he said Iraq must disarm “immediately”.

The EU leaders’ delicate balancing act follows a summit in which the deepening rift between the so-called Old and New Europe was dramatically exposed, with several leaders turning on President Chirac.

When the French President warned that war in Iraq could cost thousands of lives, Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, retorted that “we are just as concerned about life and death as you are”.

Other leaders appeared to be irritated by what one diplomat called “French grandstanding” over recent weeks. Bertie Aherne, the Irish Prime Minister, referring to French calls for the inspections regime to be extended, said: “It cannot continue forever.”

In the strained atmosphere Gerhard Schröder picked up Mr Blair after he spoke of the lives being lost in Iraq because of Saddam. The German leader remarked that there were more lives being lost in North Korea.

The Times has been told that Britain will consider delaying the crunch meeting of the Security Council until March 14 if by doing so it can guarantee the passage of a second resolution triggering the use of force.

The British-US stance won wider support than had been expected, with one of the strongest advocates, Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, telling fellow members that there was no need for new commissions or committees and that there should be a firm time-scale of weeks, not months.

Stepping up the pressure on his colleagues Mr Blair told the summit that the authority of the UN was at stake after 12 years of prevarication and deceit. He said that Iraq must now “come into 100 per cent compliance — otherwise that is a clear breach”.

After the meeting the Prime Minister said that the points of agreement should send a strong signal to Iraq that“this really is the final opportunity to disarm.”

A clear majority of the British public — 52 per cent — are now opposed to war in Iraq, with support for Labour falling by four points, an ICM poll for the Guardian has found.

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