No regrets, Blair tells Iraq in final visit

Britain's Tony Blair, on his last visit to Iraq as prime minister, said yesterday he had no regrets about his part in the US-led invasion that removed Saddam Hussein.

On a farewell trip to a country whose future may define his legacy after a decade in power, Blair met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani and discussed the situation in Iraq, which is beset by sectarian violence.

"I have no regrets about removing Saddam, no," Blair told a joint news conference with Maliki and Talabani after their talks about how to bring about greater political reconciliation.

"The future of Iraq should be determined by Iraqis in accordance with their wishes and it is important that all the neighbouring countries understand and respect that," he said.

Ambassadors from Iran and the US will meet in Iraq on May 28 to discuss security in the country, a rare meeting between the bitter rivals. Blair said there was strategic benefit in a stable Iraq for all involved.

"We know it is important to work with Iran but Iran has to understand it cannot support terrorism and want to work with us at the same time," he said.

A mortar round, part of a pattern of daily bombardments, landed in the heavily fortified Green Zone as Blair arrived.

"There are mortar attacks and terrorist attacks happening every day. We don't give in to them," Blair said.

His decision to join US President George W. Bush and send British troops to topple Saddam in 2003 despite huge opposition at home was the defining moment of his rule.

Speaking on the BBC, former US President Jimmy Carter said Blair could have exerted greater influence over Bush, and his government had shown "subservience" towards the White House over Iraq and other foreign policy areas.

"I have been really disappointed in the apparent subservience of the British government's policies related to many of the serious mistakes that have been originated in Washington," 81-year-old Carter said.

Lingering resentment from the public and within the ruling Labour Party over Blair's steadfast support for Bush and the war ultimately forced him to cut short his third term. He will quit on June 27 and finance minister Gordon Brown will take over.

Four years after the invasion, US and British forces face daily attacks from insurgents, sectarian violence is undermining the state and officials within and outside Maliki's coalition admit stabilising Iraq is almost impossible.

The US military said that five soldiers had been killed in four separate incidents on Friday and yesterday.

Blair believes there have been positive political developments and wanted to discuss a coherent plan with Maliki to see faster progress.

Maliki's government is under pressure to meet political benchmarks, which include a revenue-sharing oil law, a law that would allow former members of Saddam's party to hold public office and constitutional reform, to speed up reconciliation.

"Iraq cannot go back to the past and the political process moves forward... the truth must be imposed," Maliki said.

For now, Blair's legacy remains tarnished by Iraq - despite helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland and the success of military intervention in Kosovo and Sierra Leone.

What rankles is the perception that Blair took Britain to war over a lie - that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. A poll for the Observer this year showed 58 per cent of Britons believed Iraq was Blair's biggest failure.

British forces initially seemed to have done well in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite southern city not plagued by Baghdad's sectarian violence, nor prone to strikes on foreign troops.

But security in Basra has deteriorated as rival Shi'ite militias battle for control of the vast oil wealth in Iraq's richest city and the gateway to the Gulf.