Bush, Blair say Turkey blasts strengthen resolve

9.00am - UPDATE

LONDON - George W Bush and Tony Blair vowed no let-up in the war on terror and denied their occupation of Iraq had sparked Thursday's devastating attacks on British targets in Turkey.

As around 100,000 anti-war protesters swarmed through London and brought an effigy of Bush crashing to the ground in Trafalgar Square, talks between the two leaders focused on the latest suspected al Qaeda attacks.

Twin blasts in Istanbul hit the British consulate and the offices of Britain's largest bank, HSBC, killing at least 27 people and wounding over 400. The consulate's chaplain said Consul-General Roger Short was among the dead.

The Istanbul attacks did little to dampen the anti-war protests, and many marchers said they made the demonstration all the more necessary.

"The terrorist attacks are exactly the sort of thing we predicted would happen if they went into Iraq. They've proved us right," said film-maker Martin Smith, 64.

"US policies create more terrorism," said Jamal Kamamgar, a 28-year-old Iraqi living in London. "Before the invasion, Iraq was a secular country. Now religion is growing because of US humiliation."

But Blair insisted: "What has caused the terrorist attack today in Turkey is not the president of the United States. It's not the alliance between America and Britain."

A crowd of protesters of all ages blew whistles and horns, beat drums and pushed a huge pink "peace tank" toward the central Trafalgar Square, where they toppled the Bush effigy in an echo of the celebrated fall of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad.

Protesters then trampled on the six-metre-high bronze-painted statue as it lay on the ground.

The real President Bush, on a historic state visit to Britain, said the Turkish attacks only strengthened his resolve.

"Great Britain and America and other free nations are united today in our grief and united in our determination to fight and defeat this evil wherever it is found," he said.

"Our mission in Iraq is noble and it is necessary, and no act of thugs or killers will change our resolve or alter their fate. We will finish the job we have begun."

Blair, whose popularity has slid at home over his support for the war, said: "Once again we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise."

The image of Bush and Blair side-by-side, vowing to stay the course in the face of terror, further cemented a bond that has not wavered since Blair vowed to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the Turkish blasts bore "all the hallmarks of the international terrorism operations practised by al Qaeda" -- the group Washington blames for the September 11 attacks and a wave of bombings since.

Turkey said Straw would travel to Istanbul later. Anti-terrorist officers from Scotland Yard were also expected to fly out to help the Turks investigate the blasts.

A caller to a Turkish news agency claimed responsibility for the attacks in the name of al Qaeda and a local Islamist group.

The attacks overshadowed political talks that left the British prime minister again open to criticism that his unflagging support for Bush has won few benefits for Britain.

Blair failed to win breakthroughs on the two most contentious issues -- the treatment of British detainees at the US prison colony at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and US tariffs on steel that the World Trade Organisation has ruled illegal.

Bush was due to visit Blair's constituency in rural northern England on Friday before flying home.

The president's wife Laura said the trip had gone well and the protests against her husband had been smaller than expected.

"We've seen plenty of American flags. We've seen plenty of people waving to us -- many many more people in fact than protesters -- who were very welcoming to us here and I appreciate that," she said.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq