THE ARCHDEADON of York says Britain cannot just turn the other cheek to Saddam Hussein.

"You do not turn other people's cheeks for them. What about innocent people who have been killed?" said the Venerable George Austin, speaking as Britain and America moved ever closer to launching air attacks on Iraq but as other countries urged continued diplomacy.

"If you saw a little child being attacked would you say, 'I am not going to help because I must turn the other cheek'? You go in there and stop it, even to the extent of killing the person to stop them killing the child."

But the Archdeacon has stopped short of backing military conflict against the Iraqi dictator, arguing that the Gulf crisis has thrown up a moral dilemma "I am saying that we should think very carefully.

"The idea of a just war is a difficult one. A war is always evil, because it involves the loss of lives, but it can be the lesser of two evils," he said.

"The evil we are faced with here is, on the one hand, the death of ordinary, innocent people in Iraq; on the other hand the death of innocent people if he (Saddam) unleashes germ or nerve gas. "One has to make the decision, 'Which is the greater or lesser of two evils?'"

The archdeacon's comments come as a national poll out today shows most people are in favour of British involvement in military action against Iraq.

The Guardian/ICM poll, in the first test of British opinion in the recent conflict, shows 56% of those questioned backed action, including bombing raids.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today warned Britain and America not to try to "humiliate" Saddam Hussein in the latest Gulf crisis.

He appealed to all sides in the dispute to show "flexibility" so the Iraqi dictator could back down without losing face.

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