Mr Blair's big day out

Mindful of the perils of wearing dark shirts in the heat, Tony Blair's image makers went for white.

Blair thus arrived in Iraq this Thursday for his Gulf victory tour with his shirt shimmering among the drab uniforms of his military escorts.

In the former splendour of Saddam's Palace, he addressed the troops.

"When people look back on this time, I honestly believe they will see this as one of the finest moments of our century, and you did it," he said, solemnly.

This was the first visit by a Western leader to post-war Iraq, and apart from a short business meeting with the most senior United States and British officials on the spot, it was mostly a day for shaking hands and being photographed.

Blair told his service audience that the achievements of British forces in occupying southern Iraq and helping reconstruct it had "made Britain hold its head up high". After his five-minute speech, Blair stayed to shake hands and sign khaki shirts with a film star flourish, before a helicopter rushed him to his next appointment to meet the crew of the minesweeper HMS Ramsey.

By evening, he was in Warsaw for the next leg of a six-day tour of five countries.

The British are having an easier time controlling the southern provinces than the Americans in Baghdad, largely because the local Shia population was overwhelmingly relieved to see the back of Saddam Hussein.

Even so, from tomorrow, the British will ban anyone from carrying weapons above a certain calibre anywhere, unless they are in uniform and have obtained a gun licence.

In Baghdad, US forces vowed to destroy "scumbag" supporters of Saddam Hussein attacking them. The American military, stung by persistent disorder in Baghdad and attacks that have killed six US soldiers since last Sunday, has reshaped its forces.

The Army's 1st Armoured Division took over Baghdad from the 3rd Infantry Division on Thursday, freeing the latter to tighten security in troubled towns west of the capital.

- INDEPENDENT and Reuters

Herald Feature: Iraq