Williams wades straight into Iraq row

The new Archbishop of Canterbury today waded straight into the debate on a possible war against Iraq.

Dr Rowan Williams, named this morning as the 104th head of the Church of England, was asked if he believed Britain should back a US-led strike against Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

He made it clear that such action could only come after the fullest possible public debate. "I would only support a military action which the United Nations had cleared," he said.

Referring to a recent open letter which he had signed cautioning Tony Blair against a war on Iraq and its people, he added: "I wanted to contribute to discussion before decisions were finally made."

The 52-year-old father of two, a respected theologian and philosopher, made clear that he sees his role as one where he must join public debates with "honesty, clarity and integrity".

Downing Street today acknowledged that the Prime Minister and Dr Williams were almost certain to clash on issues such as Iraq.

Mr Blair's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister believes that the Archbishop's wisdom, intellectual stature and deep spirituality will be invaluable."

Asked about Dr Williams's previous criticism of the prospect of a war with Iraq, the official spokesman said the Prime Minister expected them to disagree from time to time.

He added: "The Government may not always agree with everything that is said but people are at liberty to express their views." The appointment of Dr Williams was criticised by conservatives within the Church of England. Frank Naggs, a member of an evangelical group on the Synod, said there were "fundamental concerns" about this support of homosexuality and women priests.

He told Radio 4: "We do have problems with his radical agenda but in the Christian way we would like to have him clarify some of these issues, so we are arranging an early meeting hopefully to clarify some of these fundamental concerns."

But the Rev Richard Kirker, general secretary of the lesbian and gay Christian movement, said that "for the first time lesbian and gay Anglicans can feel they have a real friend at Lambeth". Mr Kirker added: "Homophobia will be challenged and intolerance rooted out."