[y2krog2000]

The government said Friday it is consulting with the United States about possibly hosting part of a US "son of Star Wars" missile defence shield.

The United States has already begun negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to install a radar and 10 long-range missile interceptors, angering Russia and stirring unease in some European countries.

The US administration says the shield is to guard against any attack by rogue states such as Iran or North Korea. Moscow has dismissed this argument.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said the US-British talks were at a very early stage as Britain bids to be "kept in consideration" as a possible location for the system.

"The prime minister thinks it is a good idea that we are part of the consideration by the US," a spokeswoman for Blair said.

"We believe that it is an important step towards providing missile defence coverage for Europe, of which we are part."

The confirmation came after The Economist weekly reported that Blair, a key US military ally, had been "discreetly waging a campaign" for several months because he believed the system would make both Britain and the United States more secure.

It said that a new missile silo could be sited at an existing US military base in Britain.

However, the US deputy chief of mission in London, David Johnson, said Britain was not the main focus.

"As we go forward there may be opportunities for us to talk to other countries about their needs, but right now we are concentrating on the Czech Republic and on Poland as the primary sites where we would be looking for this," Johnson told BBC radio.

The Economist quoted US officials as saying that the interceptors are purely defensive weapons that are just chunks of metal without warheads that would destroy ballistic missiles through impact in space.

The BBC said that Blair had discussed the shield with US President George W. Bush and that Blair's chief foreign policy advisor, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, had been working with the US National Security Council on the issue.

Without confirming the BBC report, the Blair spokeswoman said discussions had taken place at "various levels."

Liam Fox, the opposition Conservative spokesman on defence, told BBC radio that the government had to explain whether the shield was "applicable and practical" and outline the nature of the threat against which it might be used.

Fox warned that both Russia and Iran had stepped up their investment in ballistic missiles.

In Berlin Wednesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the planned system was designed to counter a threat from Iran, which Washington fears is developing nuclear weapons, and posed no danger to Russia.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said the US shield would spark a "new arms race."

Even though Washington called it defensive, it "would enable the US to attack other countries without fear of retaliation," it said.

CND also argued that the system was unreliable and chairwoman Kate Hudson warned that the system, if deployed, would put Britain on "the front line in a future war."

CND is among the main opponents to Blair's desire to replace Britain's US-built Trident missile nuclear deterrent, arguing it would lead to a new wave of nuclear proliferation. A vote is due in parliament next month.

The missile shield has been nicknamed "son of Star Wars" after the Strategic Defence Initiative, known as "Star Wars," launched by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s before the Soviet Union collapsed.

The United States already has interceptor silos in Alaska and California to defend against an attack by North Korea.

The Americans love starting wars its just a pity they cant finish them on their own and always end up getting other countries involved in some way or another.