Blair 'confident' of weapons finds

Mr Blair gave his news conference at Number 10

Tony Blair has urged people not to "jump around gleefully" over the fact the US-led coalition has failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The first priority was to stabilise the country, he said, and the hunt would continue for any chemical or biological capability in existence in Iraq.

Mr Blair said that 1000 potential sites had been identified and would be searched for weapons of mass destruction.

The prime minister had tried to focus attention back on to the domestic political agenda on Monday, when he faced the press for his monthly news conference.

Before people crow about the absence of weapons of mass destruction, I suggest they wait a little bit

Tony Blair

But Iraq dominated the questioning.

Mr Blair told reporters at Downing Street that there was "much to do" in Iraq and "unfinished business" in the Middle East.

That message was later echoed by foreign secretary Jack Straw, who told MPs there were still pockets of resistance in Baghdad.

Don't crow yet

Mr Blair said that evidence would emerge over links between the Saddam Hussein regime and terrorist organisations.

"There was a six-month campaign of concealment of those weapons," he said.

The Labour Party has been a lot less bruised over Iraq than some of you think

Tony Blair

"That is our intelligence. There is no doubt in my mind that is what happened.

"One benefit of that was that it was going to be far more difficult for them to reconstitute that material to use in a situation of conflict.

"Before people crow about the absence of weapons of mass destruction, I suggest they wait a little bit."

Syria and Iran

Mr Blair sought to dispel what he termed "conspiracy theories" of more invasions in the future.

"I have made it very clear that there are no plans to invade Syria - what we want is Syrian co-operation and we want Iranian co-operation too.

"I believe that is true not just in relation to Iraq incidentally.

"The single most important thing is that if we can get this Middle East peace process moving forward again Syria and Iran have got a part to play with that because they sponsored terrorism that has sought to disrupt that process and that sponsorship of terrorism has got to stop."

Mr Straw told MPs the situation in the Middle East "bedevilled" relations between the West and the Muslim world and any progress towards peace would have far-reaching effects in improving international relations.

He said he hoped that "with visionary leadership and courageous statesmanship from both sides" a settlement could be reached by 2005.

Missing millions?

On the domestic front the prime minister disputed the suggestion that his stance on attacking Iraq had split his party.

"The Labour Party has been a lot less bruised over Iraq than some of you think," he said.

Mr Blair was also quizzed as to why so many schools were facing financial hardship despite the extra investment being put in by the government.

He said that Education Secretary Charles Clarke was investigating the issue and would report back to MPs on Friday.

On asylum the government was making "very significant" steps towards the promise to halve new arrivals by September, he said.

Mr Blair said that the end of the war in Iraq did not mean now was the time for a quiet life.

"The issue of reform in public services in health, in education, in criminal justice, in asylum - this is the big challenge that this government and the Labour Party faces," he said.