Pressure from the British government played a part in delaying the decision on deployment of a proposed national missile defence (NMD) system until after the American election, according to US defence secretary William Cohen.

He said on Tuesday that one reason for the likely delay is the degree of opposition from the government and other European capitals, which means that the $60bn deployment might not be able to take place until after the target date of 2005.

Tony Blair and foreign secretary Robin Cook have been pressing the US, in the words of one minister, not to indulge "in gung-ho unilateralism".

The Foreign Office minister Peter Hain has told the US state department the British government will come under intense political pressure if deployment goes ahead.

Behind the scenes, Britain has been urging the US to keep talking to the Russians, fearing that unilateral deployment by the US would breach of the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty and trigger a new arms race. Foreign Office sources said Bill Clinton and Tony Blair had been impressed by first hand reports from Vladimir Putin that North Korea wants to avoid confrontation with the US.

North Korea, Libya, Iraq and Iran have been cited by advocates of NMD as rogue states from which the US needs a new nuclear missile shield.

Mr Cohen told the US senate the decision on whether to deploy the system would be left to President Clinton's successor because testing was not far enough advanced. The only decision Mr Clinton would have to take was whether to start building a radar for it.

Mr Cohen said, according to the latest legal advice, clearing ground for the radar site on Shemya Island off the Alaska would not violate the 1972 treaty with Moscow. But a British minister said this legal interpretation was sailing pretty close to the wind. The Pentagon has projected that it would take five years to complete the construction of an anti-missile shield capable of defending the US.

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