Post-war Iraq - Now the battle for peace begins

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons two days ago that with the conflict in Iraq near the end, the challenge of peace was now beginning and they had a heavy responsibility to make the peace worth the war.

The Americans began to realise yesterday just how heavy that responsibility will prove to be, with the first of a series of meetings to shape an interim authority and a future government was held in Nasiriya.

It was met with a boycott from many pivotal figures and an estimated 20,000 people marched through the southern city in protest against what is seen as heavy American involvement in laying out the future of Iraq.