London: The world must "keep up the pressure" on Iraq following its offer of an unconditional return of UN arms inspectors, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on September 18.

During a visit to a London school, Blair said it was essential that UN inspectors be allowed to fully do their job of finding and destroying any weapons of mass destruction.

"It's the pressure that has brought him (Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein) to this position," the Prime Minister said.

"We have got to keep up the pressure to make sure the weapons inspectors actually go in -- not just that he says they can go in, but they actually go in and that they can do their job."

Saddam's offer on September 16 to let UN inspectors return after a four-year absence triggered a split within the UN Security Council over how to proceed with the Iraq issue.

Britain agrees with the US that the offer looked like a possible stalling tactic, but the other permanent Security Council members -- China, Russia and France -- were more receptive.

Blair, whose main public event on September 18 was the release of a report on poverty in Britain, said, "Nobody should be in any doubt" about Saddam's move on arms monitors.

Blair is the European leader who most strongly support US President Bush's hard line on Iraq.