We must stay in Iraq - Blair

2003-12-31 16:46

London - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a New Year's address to the nation, called on Wednesday for perseverance in Iraq in the hope that it will become a beacon for democracy in the Middle East.

"The recent capture of Saddam Hussein was a vital milestone on the road to a stable Iraq," said Blair, who joined United States President George W Bush in the March 20 invasion that led to the former Iraqi ruler's downfall.

"Meanwhile, constant progress on essential services like electricity and water are sure signs that life in Iraq is slowly going in the right direction," he said.

"In 2004, we must stick to the task," he said.

"There will be no better signal for the Middle East or the world than a democratic, prosperous Iraq replacing a tyrannical, brutal dictatorship."

Blair, who has been spending his Christmas holidays in Egypt, made his remarks ahead of one of his toughest months in Downing Street, with a judicial inquiry due to report in mid-January on the July suicide of David Kelly.

Facing his biggest rebelion

Kelly, a ministry of defence expert on weapons of mass destruction, took his life after he was exposed as the source of a BBC report - denied by Blair's government - that Downing Street had "sexed up" intelligence on Iraq ahead of the war.

Also in January, Blair faces the biggest rebellion within his Labour party since the Iraq war about higher university tuition fees - a reform on which he is staking his political future.

"Britain is poised to become one of the most successful 21st century nations," the prime minister said.

"And I am as committed, as optimistic, as determined today as I was in 1997 (when the Labour government was first elected) to see through the reforms that will make it happen," he said.

"This is no time to turn the clock back, no time to coast, no time to falter with the job only half done," he said.

"I relish the challenge ahead and I am confident that in partnership - government and people - we can take the next important steps forward in 2004."

On other foreign issues, Blair welcomed Libya's decision to abandon its pursuit of a weapons of mass destruction capability.

"Libya's courageous decision to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction will also make the world a safer place," he said.

"And it shows that the problems of these weapons, can, with determination and good faith, be tackled through discussion and engagement."

- AFP