UK snubs Saddam's 'pledge' to MP

Saddam met Galloway in a secret underground bunker

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The UK government has dismissed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's promise to a British politician that he would allow U.N. inspectors back.

The Iraqi leader told George Galloway, a maverick left-wing Labour MP, that he would implement all U.N. resolutions on Iraq and admit weapons inspectors without hindrance, the Mail on Sunday newspaper said without quoting the pledge directly.

Galloway, who has visited Iraq on numerous occasions, also said: "Saddam clearly understood that Iraq has to be seen to go the extra diplomatic mile and he promised to do so."

But the Foreign Office told CNN that the comments would "not change a thing."

The spokesman added: "Saddam knows exactly what he has to do -- he has to follow the U.N. Security Council resolutions and let U.N. inspectors back anytime and anywhere."

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Galloway's article is the latest apparent charm offensive adopted by the Iraqi leader in the face of possible military action against it. Last week he offered to hold technical talks with the U.N. about returning, while in a separate move he invited U.S. Congress members to visit the country and look for weapons of mass destruction.

The FO spokesman repeated that Britain had made "no decision yet on whether military action will be taken."

Saddam, who met Galloway in a secret underground bunker near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, remained defiant, echoing Britain's World War II leader Winston Churchill as saying Iraq will "fight on the streets, on the rooftops, from house to house, we will never surrender."

He added: "That is what Churchill promised the invaders threatening England. And that is what we can promise the crusaders if they come here."

Saddam asked for better ties with Britain and a bigger role for the country in the Middle East.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has been more supportive than many other European leaders of U.S. President George W. Bush's comments on taking military action against Iraq.

Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has come out against his country taking part in any military strike against the country. (Full Story)

Saddam is reported as saying: "We don't know why you turned against us more than any other European country."

Iraqi officials have said in interviews in the British press over the past few weeks that they hope to shake London's support for Washington's hardline position.

Meanwhile, Saddam told Galloway about his fondness for everything quintessentially British including red double-decker buses and Quality Street chocolates.