Offaly Anti-War Movement

Blair and Chirac talk as war begins (BBC World News)

Difficult Meeting

Tony Blair is set to meet French President Jacques Chirac for the first time since the French threatened to veto a UN resolution setting a deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm.

Downing Street says Mr Blair still intends to travel to Brussels for the European Union summit despite the start of strikes on and around Baghdad.

The prime minister is meeting his war team of ministers at 0830 GMT on Thursday before a full cabinet at 1000.

EU leaders will discuss Iraq at a dinner in Brussels on Thursday evening and the spokesman said there was no point pretending there was not a fundamental disagreement between France and Britain.

Paris is still reeling from Mr Blair's repeated claims that the French are to blame for the failure to secure a diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said he was "shocked and saddened" at the suggestion and called on his UK counterpart Jack Straw to reject the claims in the strongest terms.

'Misguided'

During a heated House of Commons debate on the Iraq crisis on Tuesday, Mr Blair argued that Saddam Hussein might have backed down peacefully if President Chirac had not threatened to veto a new UN ultimatum.

He described the French stance as misguided and profoundly dangerous, stressing that it had ultimately benefited the Iraqi dictator.

"The tragedy is that had such a resolution been issued, he might just have complied," said Mr Blair.

He insisted: "There is resentment of US predominance. There is fear of US unilateralism...I know all of this.

"But the way to deal with it is not rivalry but partnership," he told MPs.

But those comments appear to have upset the French and Downing Street says Mr Blair will make his views clear to President Chirac if needs be.

'No-one is fooled'

One diplomatic source in France said: "We fully understand the internal pressure which is being put on the British government, but these comments are not worthy of a country which is a friend and a European partner.

"This presentation of the facts does not match the reality and does not fool anyone."

Mr Villepin added: "The French authorities were shocked and saddened by the remarks made by members of the British government."

Mr Chirac, the strongest anti-war voice in the West, provoked anger from Mr Straw and other British ministers when he announced last week he would veto any resolution in the UN Security Council that gave the green light to military action in Iraq.

The prime minister's spokesman said: "There is no use pretending that there are not serious differences of view between us and the French government in respect of resolution 1441.

"Clearly the prime minister's view is that had the international community stuck by 1441 and sent a strong message of unity to Saddam, that pressure could have borne dividends.

"We could have achieved the disarmament that we all want to see and achieved it peacefully."

However, the spokesman said the last telephone conversation between the two leaders had been good natured

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain stressed that France and Britain had much in common, despite their differences over Iraq.

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: "We need to encourage the French government and President Chirac in particular to seek a role of partnership with the United States, not a position of conflict or tension. And we are in a position to help him do that."