In an article published by Sunday Mirror newspaper, Cook called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to bring UK troops home from "this bloody and unjust war" with Iraq.

"I want our troops home and I want them home before more of them are killed," he said.

But later on Sunday, under fire from Blair's cabinet ministers, Cook issued a statement saying he was not calling for troops to be withdrawn but that he wanted a quick victory before there are many more deaths.

"Now that the war has started it's vital that it ends in victory. There could be no worse outcome than one that lets Saddam Hussein survive," Cook said in his statement.

"But as I said in my article in the Sunday Mirror those who started the war did so with a promise that it would be quick and easy.

"They owe us an explanation why the resistance has been greater than planned for and they owe British troops an explanation of how they are going to take Baghdad without further casualties," Cook said.

On Sunday morning, British Home Secretary David Blunkett slapped down Cook's comments on BBC1's Breakfast with Frost TV program, saying Cook was risking the "dignity" of his resignation by suggesting "capitulation" in Iraq.

"Robin resigned with great dignity, he put his argument with great force, but it's hard to retain that dignity or force if you advocate capitulation after just 10 days," said Blunkett.

Aside with Blunkett, British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said he heard of Cook's comments "with great sadness".

But it seems Cook is not alone. Former defense minister Doug Henderson told GMTV Sunday that UK troops should be withdrawn from the "hellish" situation in Iraq in order to avoid another potential Vietnam.

"If it is so difficult to control the road north to Baghdad and try to make headway into Basra then what will the situation be like in Baghdad itself? " he said.

"Is it not better to recognize that we should withdraw?" Henderson asked, adding that Cook reflected what much of the British public were thinking.

Cook resigned as the leader of the British parliament on March 17 in protest against the ongoing Iraqi war without UN backing. He was also the British foreign secretary between 1997 and 2001.

British Defense Ministry data showed that so far a total of 23 British soldiers had been killed since the war broke out on March 20, 14 of them in accidents, four in combat, and five killed by friendly fire.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2003)