Blair says US military should control post-Saddam Iraq

Tony Blair lined up staunchly behind George Bush last night in agreeing that the United States military should administer a post-Saddam Iraq before handing the country over to the United Nations.

At a working dinner at the US President's Camp David retreat, the British Prime Minister backed Washington's plans to install General Jay Garner as civil governor for the country in the short term.

Mr Blair and Mr Bush agreed that a new UN Security Council resolution would be needed to authorise an interim UN administration and release funds for reconstruction – but only after the military situation stabilised. The talks came amid growing controversy over the extent to which the UN should be involved in Iraq even during the conflict and, more importantly, once the fighting is over.

The current lack of consensus with France and Russia also meant that Britain and the US were in no mood to go "rushing" back to the UN, the Prime Minister told reporters.

Before he flew to Washington, Mr Blair said in the House of Commons that the interim arrangements for Iraq had to be robust enough to ensure that American and British troops "did not give their lives in vain".

Downing Street said that a new UN resolution for reconstruction was less of a priority than a resolution giving Kofi Annan, the secretary general, powers to run Iraq's £6.35bn-a-year oil-for-food programme. The Security Council, which remains divided over the legitimacy of the Anglo-American assault on Iraq, was struggling yesterday to agree a resolution authorising Mr Annan to resume the programme after its suspension 10 days ago.

The secretary general is anxious to relaunch the programme under which Iraq was allowed to import food, medicines and other civilian supplies using revenue from its oil sales. Russia and Syria have balked on sovereignty grounds, noting that, for now, the Iraqi government remains in place. With some French backing, the two governments also fear that approving the resolution would confer some legitimacy on the US-UK armed attacks.

Mr Blair and Mr Bush spent much of their time discussing the military campaign but the Prime Minister also raised the importance of publishing the much-delayed "road-map" for the Middle East peace process to repair relations between the West and the Arab world.

Some members of the Bush administration would prefer there to be no UN involvement in Iraq once the conflict is over and are keen that the French and Russians do not benefit from lucrative civil contracts.

However, Mr Blair insisted yesterday that the President himself was committed to a UN administration at some point.

"It is very clear that we should make sure that any post-conflict Iraqi administration has the full endorsement of the UN. It actually releases funds. It allows the international financial institutions to operate in a better and more effective way," Mr Blair told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions.

"American and British soldiers have put their lives on the line, and in some cases given their lives, for the liberation of Iraq and the disarmament of Saddam Hussein," he added.

"We will obviously have to discuss the details of how we make the handover to civil administration in Iraq because it is important both to protect our own troops and make sure, frankly, that they did not give their lives in vain."

Washington wants an interim civilian authority to be headed by Jay Garner, a retired general who heads the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

Britain is siding with Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, who is sympathetic to the British plan for the UN to play a central role in the running of post-war Iraq.

But Mr Powell faces stiff opposition from the Washington hawks including Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, who wants the Pentagon to be in the driving seat.