THE Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, has publicly acknowledged America's "grave responsibility" in dealing with any armed conflict against Saddam Hussein.

The Bishop, who is president of the southern region of the United Nations Association, outlined his views about what constituted "a just war" against the Iraqi dictator.

He was speaking on Wednesday, October 16, in Oxford Town Hall as he delivered the Evan Luard Memorial Lecture, staged each year in memory of the former Oxford Labour MP.

Bishop Harries, said there were five criteria to meet -- having the lawful authority to be carried out; having a just cause; being the last resort; carried out in proportion to the perceived threat, and with a chance of success.

Mr Luard, who died in February 1991, resigned from the shadow Cabinet over Britain's armed response to the Suez Conflict in 1956, which he regarded as an unjust war. said a "just war" could be summed in answer to five criteria -- having the lawful authority to be carried out; having a just cause; being the last resort; carried out in proportion to the perceived threat, and with a chance of success.

The Bishop added: "I am not a pacifist. Many of the conflicts we have gone through have been justified as a 'just war', but I don't think that this is the case in the present situation."

Answering questions from the floor over his position over the nuclear deterrent, the Bishop replied that his pro-stance in the 1960s had been made with "great fear and moral trepidation, and I don't feel at ease at all and with certainty that I was right."