Speaking after a day-long meeting in Bagshot, southwest of London, with fellow center-left world leaders, Blair said there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Saddam represented "a security threat" to the world.

"When we have over the past couple of days taken the first steps for Iraqi people actually to take control of their own lives, and we have the United Nations talking about 300,000 people and mass graves, then I believe we should be proud that Saddam has gone, glad that he has gone," he said.

"I have no doubt at all that in the future, whatever the differences have been in the past, we can reconstruct Iraq as a stable and prosperous country and the world will be a more secure place as a result," he added.

"We should be proud as a country of what we have done."

Blair, who meets US President George W. Bush in Washington on Thursday en route to East Asia, has been under fire since late May over allegations that his staff misused intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam and weapons of mass destruction.

WAR.WIRE