Posted on 02/13/2003 7:00:45 PM PST by smpc
TONY Blair last night welcomed John Howard's support for Britain's efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein, declaring the two governments were in "total agreement" on the handling of the Iraq crisis.
As the prime ministers met, 1450 British troops secured London's Heathrow airport with tanks and special squads armed with machineguns patrolled the government office area of Whitehall and guarded Buckingham Palace.
Mr Blair praised Mr Howard's "strength and leadership" in a press conference after the talks, drawing a compliment in return, with the Australian Prime Minister applauding his British counterpart for the "very strong stance you have taken".
Earlier, Mr Howard met British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said: "We are in exactly the same position as the Australian Government in respect to Iraq."
"We call for full compliance with UN resolution 1441 on Iraq," Mr Straw said.
He said the "Bali atrocity" had demonstrated the dangers of terrorism and also thanked Australia for its assistance to the British victims of the Bali attack.
In the second leg of his tour of the US, Britain and Indonesia, Mr Howard arrived in London on the day of a Bali memorial service and attended the church amid tight security in the afternoon.
He said that after meeting US President George W. Bush he was firmly of the view that the "faint hope of peace" rested with Hussein.
Mr Blair, under intense political pressure over the issue, earlier told parliament there was "no moral monopoly" for those protesting against war.
The strength of the Anglo-Australian coalescence on Iraq was yesterday used to embarrass the ALP, which has steadfastly refused to criticise Mr Blair despite his commitment to a military solution to the crisis.
Attacking Labor in parliament for its "eerie silence" on Mr Blair, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Opposition was instead happy to lash out at Mr Bush who had received more dishonourable mentions than the Iraqi dictator.
Mr Blair has been the key ally of the US President as Washington attempts to build global support for a war in Iraq.
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