Blair embarrassed by the sudden capture of capital

War on terrorism: Allies

Tony Blair was thrown on to the defensive over the war in Afghanistan when the Northern Alliance took the capital, Kabul, 24 hours after he predicted that it wouldn't.

Yesterday the Prime Minister was forced to concede that the military campaign had progressed much quicker than he anticipated. Mr Blair had hoped the city would not be taken until agreement had been reached on a new, broad-based government for the country.

In a 15-minute telephone conversation with Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the United Nations, Mr Blair called for the humanitarian relief operation to be stepped up urgently and for an Afghan government to be set up representing all the country's ethnic groups. He said: "I believe that we can make real progress towards the filling of the current power vacuum in Kabul, but we need a UN presence there as soon as possible."

Mr Blair sought to put a brave face on the fast-moving events, saying that Afghans were "rejoicing" at the sudden departure of the Taliban, who were now "in disarray and retreat" and "disintegrating".

He insisted that the military campaign was "not yet over by any means" because Osama bin Laden had not been caught, the Taliban not yet fully defeated and the al-Qa'ida terrorist network not yet closed down. He believed these tasks would be made easier by the events on the ground.

The Prime Minister admitted his hopes had been dashed that the Northern Alliance would remain outside Kabul but denied that the Alliance had broken its pledges to London and Washington. He said: "The situation in Kabul obviously changed when the Taliban left and there was no authority left at all."

He expressed confidence that the Northern Alliance leaders would honour the pledges they had made in return for the military support they had received from America and its allies, and believed that they would support a broad-based government. "The basis on which that support was given was very clear and that remains the case," he said.

Mr Blair said British forces had been "intimately involved in the conduct of the coalition campaign" and "acquitted themselves brilliantly". He did not rule out further involvement. The Prime Minister held an hour of talks with his military advisers, including the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, to discuss the dramatic developments and the fast-changing map of Afghanistan.

The Tories criticised Mr Blair for declining to make a Commons statement on the advances by the Northern Alliance. Instead of answering detailed questions from MPs, Mr Blair held a short press conference in Downing Street, taking just six questions from journalists. Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative leader, requested a Commons statement today.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who held talks with Mr Annan in New York, tried to allay fears that the Northern Alliance might not show restraint in victory.

He said: "Discussions have made it crystal clear to the Northern Alliance that this time things overall have to be different. They cannot get into a mindset of the winner takes all and go for the kind of very, very bad behaviour that they went in for 10 years ago."

Talks involving all the groups in Afghanistan under the UN's umbrella were likely to take place shortly just outside the country because Kabul was not yet secure, he said.