Jack Straw is still striving for a "peaceful conclusion" to the Afghanistan crisis despite Tony Blair's warning that time has run out for the Taliban.

"We have tried very, very hard over the last few weeks and we will continue to strive to secure some entirely peaceful conclusion to this huge threat," he told BBC radio.

The foreign secretary, who addressed the Labour conference on Tuesday, holds out the hope of peace through negotiation even as the preparations for military strikes reach the final hour.

And in a clear indication that tough prime ministerial talk of "eliminating" the Taliban coexists with continuing diplomatic efforts to avoid bloodshed, Straw believes there is a last minute chance for Afghanistan to make a "dramatic change of mind" and cooperate with the fight against international terrorism.

"Military action may well have to be used unless there is some dramatic change of mind by the Taliban, but we are all very clear that has to be proportionate, it has to be directed and it has to be backed by a much wider programme to end this kind of instability," he said.

But Straw warned that to "turn the other cheek" to international terrorists such as Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network posed a greater threat to peace than the Western-led coalition's preparations for military action."This is a situation where to turn the other cheek would be to encourage a much, much greater danger. We have to take some action because we know that unless they are stopped they will escalate the violence and the deaths," he said.