The Taoiseach said today that yesterday's US report to the UN Security Council had provided the world with clear evidence Iraq has secretly produced weapons of mass destruction and that it was now up to Baghdad to avoid war by disarming.
"I think the report is strong and clear," Mr Ahern told a news conference following talks with his Portuguese counterpart Mr Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
"I think they now know that time has practically run out. Hopefully the Iraqi regime might listen," he added.
"I hope they do, they can avoid all this turmoil. That rests in the hands of Saddam Husssein and his colleagues."
United Nations resolution 1441, which was adopted in November, warns Iraq to establish to the satisfaction of UN weapons inspectors that it has no weapons of mass destruction or face "serious consequences".
Washington and London claim that Iraq has already violated the resolution.
Mr Ahern is in Portugal as part of a series of trips EU member states and candidate countries in the run-up to Ireland's EU presidency next year.
AFP