Tory leader meets US president

Mr Duncan Smith also visited Ground Zero

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has held talks with US President George Bush in his first foreign visit since becoming leader of the UK's official opposition.

He used the meeting to reaffirm that he was committed to supporting Tony Blair in the fight against international terrorism.

It means dealing with those rogue states that for too long have been able to get away with harbouring terrorists

Iain Duncan Smith

On a brief visit to Washington Mr Duncan Smith held talks lasting 45 minutes with President Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.

After the talks the Tory leader said both men agreed that there was now a real sense of where the coalition was going in the fight against terrorism.

A Tory spokesman said the talks also took in developments in the Middle East and Russia.

Missile defence

Later Mr Duncan Smith delivered a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in which he talked of the need to target so called rogue states such as Iraq.

He said such states must be prepared to face a "determined response" from the international community.

Mr Duncan Smith

The Tory leader also repeated his party's support for the controversial US missile defence programme.

"Winning the war against terrorism requires us to fight it on all fronts," Mr Duncan Smith told a conference on terrorism.

"It means dealing with those rogue states that for too long have been able to get away with harbouring terrorists and using them for their own twisted purposes."

Determined response

He added: "A clear lesson is that the days of the safe havens are over - we are no longer prepared to tolerate your activities.

"That goes for Afghanistan, just as it should for other countries we know, and can show, are involved in international terrorism.

"Where these states are unwilling to take effective action against terrorism they must be prepared to face a determined response from the wider international community - and I hope that the United Kingdom will continue to be at the forefront of that response."

Mr Duncan Smith said he agreed with President Bush that there could be no further justification for Iraq's failure to allow UN weapons inspectors back into the country.

Mr Duncan Smith also said that Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was wrong when he told New Yorkers there was a difference between the 11 September atrocities and what had happened in Northern Ireland.

During the visit to New York and Washington Mr Duncan Smith was also due to visit the ground zero site of the World Trade Center towers.