The removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could create a dynamic so that "old-fashioned governments with one man governing their fate and fortune will be replaced by open (systems) and a fair way of governing," Peres told a meeting of the Institute for Public Policy Research, a London think tank.

Peres, an architect of the failed Oslo peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, said he thought the chain of events following from the Iraq war would "help greatly the Moslem world and help greatly the Arab world."

Asked if the much-criticized war was necessary, Peres said "suppose nothing would happen . . . somebody has to handle the situation. You cannot let the world run wild."

He said there was "no greater killer in our time than Saddam Hussein" and that there was a worldwide threat from the "crucial meeting between terrorists and weapons of mass destruction."

Peres said it was unfair to accuse US President George W. Bush of being "trigger happy" or after "gain" in Iraq.

Peres, a Labor party politician who was also prime minister from 1995 to 1996, said the world must "face (the) danger (in Iraq) and there is nobody else to do it."

He said he thought achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians was "not a matter of decades" but would come sooner.

One main reason for this was that most issues were already settled between the two sides, who knew "more or less" what the final compromise comprising two separate states would be, Peres said.

Also, as the Palestinians reform their government they will eliminate one main Israeli reproach, that there is no one with whom to negotiate seriously for peace.

Finally, since the world is facing new dangers such as terrorism, "the end of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be a big contribution" to handling these problems, Peres said.

SPACE.WIRE