No split with Bush over Iraq, says Blair

BRITISH prime minister Tony Blair yesterday denied a split with US President George W Bush over control of the multinational force in Iraq after power is handed back to Baghdad.

The prime minister said he and President Bush were in complete agreement that the new interim government would have full sovereignty and that the coalition force would remain under US command. Downing Street sought to distinguish between strategic decisions which would be made under the umbrella of a new organisation such as an Iraqi national security council, and operational matters which would be decided by commanders on the ground.

Talk of a rift with Washington emerged after Mr Blair insisted at his monthly press conference on Tuesday that the new Iraqi government could veto operations such as the controversial US assault on Fallujah.