Tony Blair is unlikely to attend the Scottish Labour conference in Dundee on Saturday.

A senior source told news agencies on Wednesday night that "we don't think" the prime minister will be travelling to Scotland in the middle of the Gulf crisis.

The Scottish Labour Party said it was truncating the planned two-and-a-half day event to two days due to the situation in Iraq.

First minister Jack McConnell said it would be "inappropriate" to have a full party conference in the current circumstances.

"There are matters to be decided and policy discussions that need to take place," he said.

"It will be important that any debates are conducted in a measured and appropriate manner. I am sure the Scottish Labour Party will do just that."

The event will now take place on Friday and Saturday only.

Party bosses have risked the wrath of activists by holding out against having a full public debate on Iraq.

There will be a question and answer session, conducted by Labour chairman John Reid, but this will take place in a private, closed session in order to avoid damaging headlines over party splits.

There had been speculation that McConnell, the leader of the party in Scotland, might cancel the conference entirely because of its bad timing.

But with Scottish parliament and local government elections just weeks away he will be keen to rally party activists as he to seeks to win a second term with an outright majority.