Offaly Anti-War Movement

Hail Tony, Friend 'n Crony

The two leaders were speaking at a news conference in Northern Ireland after talks on Iraq, the Middle East and the Northern Ireland peace process.

Mr Blair paid tribute to coalition forces in Iraq and went on: "In all parts of the country our power is strengthening, the regime is weakening and Iraqi people are turning towards us.

"Anyone who has seen the joy on the faces of people in Basra...knows that this was indeed a war of liberation not of conquest."

And President Bush, asked if Saddam Hussein had been killed in a coalition strike, said: "I don't know if he survived. The only thing I know is he is losing power."

'False choice'

The key focus of the talks has been the administration of post-war Iraq and the role of the United Nations.

Mr Blair said the UN would have a "vital role" in the effort to repair Iraq's infrastructure - but said ultimately the country must be run by the Iraqi people.

Read Tony's Mind?

That view was echoed by President Bush, who said the UN would play a role in all aspects of post-war Iraq, from humanitarian aid to a future interim authority.

Mr Blair said it was a "false choice" to debate whether Iraq should be run by coalition forces or the UN.

"The key is that Iraq in the end should be governed by the Iraqi people," he said.

And Mr Blair again pledged that UK and US forces would not stay in the country "a day longer than necessary".

President Bush said Iraq would "move as quickly as possible" to an interim authority made up of Iraqis from inside and outside the country.

He said the interim authority would rule until a new government could be elected by the Iraqi people.

Mr Blair said the coalition remained convinced that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and said coalition forces would find them.

Mr Blair and the US president have been holding talks at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast.

Iraq dominated the discussions amid debate over the exact role to be played by the UN after the conflict.

Flying to the summit with Mr Bush on Air Force One on Monday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "There isn't as much debate and disagreement about this as you might read in the newspapers.

"There is no question the UN will play an important role."

But he added: "The military commander must be in charge for a period of time to stabilise the country.

Unity

"The coalition, having spent the treasure, having taken the political risk and having paid the cost in lives, must have a leading role as we transition from a phase of hostilities to post-hostilities to reconstruction, to putting in place a representative government that belongs to the Iraqi people."

Washington would send a team to the Gulf this week to begin the process of putting together an interim authority, Mr Powell said.

Mr Blair and Mr Bush are to have lunch with Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

All three then hope to meet the leaders of the main pro-Good Friday Agreement parties in Northern Ireland, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and SDLP leader Mark Durkan.

Mr Bush is not expected to get involved with negotiations, but will urge the parties to resolve their differences and remind them the world is watching.

Northern Ireland's power-sharing government was suspended last October amid allegations of IRA intelligence-gathering at Stormont.

But on Thursday Mr Blair and Mr Ahern will return to Belfast to set out a joint declaration - on the fifth anniversary of the Good Friday peace agreement - aimed at restoring devolution.

BBC World Reporting