British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iraq continues to accumulate weapons of mass destruction that pose a threat to world stability and must be dealt with.

The British leader told Australian television Thursday that President Bush was right to say in a recent speech that Iraq is part of an "axis of evil" that includes Iran and North Korea.

In that speech, Mr. Bush said the "axis of evil" nations support terrorism and are trying to acquire nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons of mass destruction.

A Blair spokesman says the United States and Britain have made no decision on when or how to act against Iraq. Mr. Blair and President Bush spoke by telephone Thursday. The two leaders are due to meet in Washington in April.

Washington has repeatedly made clear it wants Iraqi President Saddam Hussein toppled from power. On Thursday, U.S. officials said Washington may pay for a radio transmitter that would beam anti-Saddam messages into Iraq from its opposition movement.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says the United States has been in discussions with the Iraqi National Congress, an Iraqi opposition umbrella group, regarding the construction of a transmitter for its programs.

Mr. Boucher says no decision has been made on where to locate the transmitter. But he says the United States is open to broadcasting from Kurdish areas of northern Iraq or neighboring Iran, which shares a hostility toward Iraq. It is not clear whether Iraqi Kurdish leaders, split in two main factions, would support a transmitter on their territory.

Also Thursday, NATO Secretary-General George Robertson warned Saddam Hussein against giving asylum to Osama bin Laden or members of his al-Qaida terrorist network. Speaking in Sofia, Bulgaria, Mr. Robertson said there would be a tough international reaction if Iraq gives shelter to terrorists.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he hopes his talks next week with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri will clear the way for the return of U.N. inspectors to Iraq. The inspectors are charged with searching for banned weapons of mass destruction. The Annan-Sabri talks are set for March seventh.

Iraq has been under U.N. sanctions since invading Kuwait in August 1990. The sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. weapons inspectors verify that Baghdad has dismantled its weapons of mass destruction.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.

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