First Minister Jack McConnell has again given his backing to the prime minister's stance on Iraq despite the weekend's massive anti-war protests.

Mr McConnell said any decision on whether to go to war with Iraq should not be influenced by domestic issues such as the upcoming Scottish elections

Tens of thousands of people marched through Glasgow and about a million gathered in London on Saturday to protest against a possible attack on Iraq.

As protesters gathered, Mr Blair told a Labour conference in Glasgow that "unpopularity" was sometimes "the price of leadership and cost of conviction".

Jack McConnell said tough decisions had to be made

Mr McConnell said that the possible negative electoral repercussions of attacking Iraq should not deter Mr Blair from making tough decisions.

He said: "I would urge Tony Blair to make the decisions he has to make over the next few weeks on the basis of those difficult moral and political judgements that have to be made and not take into account Scottish elections."

"I think it would be appalling if he or any other world leader was to make a decision in a very difficult international situation based on whether or not I can get a few votes in Scotland in May.

"It should be about the decisions that are required for the future of the Middle East and the security of ourselves here in Britain."

Public opinion

Mr McConnell said that the United Nations has been trying for more than 10 years to get Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime to comply with international obligations.

He said the prime minister and other world leaders had a difficult decision to make over whether action was required in order to enfore that compliance.

The first minister said that he thought Mr Blair was "very sensitive" to the split in public opinion over the issue of Iraq.

"But at the end of the day, those who are responsible for the security, not just of Britain, but of the rest of the world, are going to have to make a difficult decision as the UN security council progress their discussions."

A second UN resolution was "preferable", said Mr McConnellhe added that there were "no easy options".

"The choice is not between peace and war", he said.

"The choice, ultimately, is between whether or not action is required to ensure that the threat to, not just the Middle East but the rest of the world, is removed in years to come."