Hoon, testifying before a parliamentary defense committee, identified Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Libya as "states of concern" and warned that "they can be confident that in the right conditions, we would be willing to use our nuclear weapons" in Britain's defense.

President Bush created a furor among left-wing Europeans when he made similar remarks about defending America.

The defense secretary's comments as part of the committee's inquiry into U.S. plans to build a defense system against a ballistic missile attack came as Prime Minister Tony Blair's government prepared to face Parliament's first emergency debate in nine years, to defend its decision to send troops to fight in Afghanistan.

Some 1,700 British commandos were gearing up Wednesday to join U.S. forces in hunting down thousands of terrorist Osama bin Laden's al- Qaeda killers and the remnants of the Taliban regime still at large in Afghanistan.

A full debate on what shaped up as Britain's first major combat role since the Gulf war was ordered at the request of the opposition Conservative Party.

In his committee testimony, Hoon said while most states "would be deterred by the fact that the U.K. possesses nuclear weapons and has the willingness and ability to use them in appropriate circumstances," in the cases of the "states of concern, I would be much less confident about."

"What I cannot be absolutely confident about," Hoon said, "is whether or not that would be sufficient to deter them from using a weapon of mass destruction in the first place."

He cited Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who "has demonstrated in the past his willingness to use chemical weapons against his own people."

In countries such as Iraq, he said, "we cannot rule out the possibility that [they] would be willing to sacrifice their own people to make such a gesture."

Hoon warned that though there was no "direct threat" yet that Britain could be the target of a missile attack involving weapons of mass destruction, the island nation could someday be hit by a ballistic missile fired from the turbulent Middle East.

For instance, he said, "I am sure Libya has an aspiration to develop a weapon of mass destruction and, equally, would like to purchase the necessary technology to deliver it."

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.