Listen to President Clinton's address

In statements made simultaneously in Washington and London, President Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said they were confident that four days of air strikes had achieved their objectives.

From the White House Mr Clinton said: "The operation is complete in accordance with our 70-hour plan.

Rageh Omaar reports from Baghdad: Still a mood of defiance

"I am confident that we have achieved our mission. We have inflicted significant damage on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction."

But he warned that the US was prepared to use further force in the future. "So long as Saddam remains in power, he will remain a threat to his people, his region and the world," he said.

He said a strong military presence would be maintained in the Gulf and that sanctions against Iraq would be kept in place.

Outside Downing Street Mr Blair said: "Air strikes on Iraq have ended. All British and American crews have returned safely."

The US Secretary of Defence, William Cohen, said almost 100 Iraqi targets had been attacked during the assault.

He said the aim of the mission had been to wreck Iraq's military power, not to hurt the Iraqi people.

Earlier he said the strikes had put back Iraq's missile programme by at least a year.

UK military sources said air strikes had inflicted major damage on Iraq's chemical and biological weapons capability and the headquarters of the Republican Guard.

BBC Washington Correspondent Clive Myrie: Mission accomplished

Operation Desert Fox was launched after Richard Butler, the United Nations chief weapons inspector, reported that Saddam Hussein was continuing to block inspections aimed at ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

Baghdad came heavy under fire on each night. Other targets included the Basra oil refinery, in the south, and the headquarters of President Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard.

US Defence Secretary William Cohen: "Seven target categories"

As aircraft took off on Saturday's final raids, the US Congress voted to impeach President Bill Clinton, who is commander-in-chief of the US military.

Throughout the campaign, Iraq remained defiant. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Iraq would fight until its last citizen. He also said Iraq would no longer work with the UN weapons inspectors.

France - one of those countries which did not support air strikes - says it now wants to see a new form of co-operation between the UN and Iraq.