Bush arrives in Britain

9.15am

LONDON - George W Bush flew into Britain this morning for a historic visit during which the United States president and his top ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will close ranks against a groundswell of protest over the Iraq war.

The two men may have hoped the trip would mark their countries' victory side by side in Iraq, but increasing attacks on their occupying forces have dulled any sense of celebration and massive street protests await Bush in London.

Organisers expect up to 100,000 anti-war demonstrators to cap their protest by toppling a giant statue of Bush in central London's Trafalgar Square -- an echo of the toppling of a statue of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in April.

If Prime Minister Blair is a reluctant host, though, he has shown no sign of it, robustly defending his decision to defy other big European powers and support Bush's war in Iraq.

"The prime minister believes this is precisely the right time for President Bush to be visiting this country," Blair's spokesman said.

Bush is equally defiant.

A spokesman travelling with him on the presidential jet to London said Bush would tell the British people that there are times when the use of military force is necessary.

"History has shown that there are times when countries must use force to defend the peace and to defend values and he will say that we have to recognise that times will come when the use of force is necessary. It is never the first choice," the official told reporters.

London's maverick Mayor Ken Livingstone has called Bush "the most dangerous man on the planet" and said that, even if asked, he would refuse to shake hands with the American leader.

Bush was to be met at London's Heathrow Airport by Prince Charles and will stay at Buckingham Palace as the guest of Queen Elizabeth. But his guardians, fearing a terror attack as well as angry crowds, have ruled out such traditional events as a royal horse-drawn carriage ride.

British police are mounting a £5 million ($13.7 million) security clampdown, with weekend suicide bombings in Istanbul adding to the tensions.

British commentators say the visit will be uncomfortable for Blair -- under fire at home over Iraq, especially within his own left-leaning Labour Party.

But Blair has remained steadfast. In a key foreign affairs speech last week he said critics of the war should accept that Iraqis were better off without Saddam, and denounced what he called a "propaganda monster about America".

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw took up the theme on Tuesday, writing in the Wall Street Journal of a "parody of America that almost demonises its power and its purpose and seeks to put the ills of the world at its door".

Despite much talk in the media about Bush's unpopularity, a poll in the left-leaning Guardian newspaper showed more British voters welcome the visit than reject it, and that 62 per cent think America "a force for good, not evil, in the world".

Bush and Blair are expected to hammer out details of plans discussed last week for speeding up the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to an interim government.

Blair will also hope to clinch a deal on British detainees at the US camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There are now 10 Britons among more than 600 prisoners there, and London has complained about plans to try some under military tribunals.

Bush plans to meet relatives of British soldiers who died in Iraq and has put special emphasis on those meetings in interviews ahead of the visit. But relatives of fallen soldiers are now among the most potent critics of the war.

Blair will also hope for a concession over trade, but a US official said before Bush's arrival that no announcement on steel tariffs would be made during the visit.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq