BLAIR'S RADIO CALL TO ARMS; PM's plea to Iraqi people to boot out evil dictator.

Byline: IAN SMITH 

TONY Blair appealed directly to the Iraqi people last night to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

The Prime Minister used the French station Radio Monte Carlo, one of the most popular with the Iraqis.

He said: "I believe the regime of Saddam is a very brutal and repressive regime.

"I think it does enormous damage to the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are potentially a prosperous people, Iraq is a country that is potentially rich.

"The standard of living and prosperity of the Iraqi people would be infinitely greater were Saddam not there."

Meanwhile, on the street of Baghdad, many Iraqis still believe President Bush is determined to overthrow Saddam and gain control of Iraq's oil whether Iraq disarms or not.

Babil newspaper, owned by Saddam's son, Odai, called on Iraq's traditional UN Security Council allies - Russia, France and China - to remain vigilant on America's true intentions.

Blair told the radio audience the new United Nations resolution on weapons of mass destruction was not about overthrowing Saddam - but he made it clear he would welcome the end of the dictator's regime.

He said: "We used to have great relations with Iraq.

"We would like to see that happen again. We want Iraq to come back into the international community, but it can't come back in while it has this fundamental problem with the nature of the current regime."

Saddam has agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors into Iraq, and the first team is expected to arrive early next week.

The inspectors have a list of up to 1000 sites suspected of producing chemical, biological and nuclear arms, and a priority list of 100 sites for special checks.

They are also expected to go into at least one of Saddam's palace compounds to make sure the UN resolution is being obeyed in full.