Blair insists 'we will get bin Laden'

The Prime Minister Tony Blair has given his clearest indication yet that he supports President George Bush's 'dead or alive' stance on finding Osama bin Laden. Speaking in a GMTV interview on Wednesday morning, Mr Blair said: "We will get him in the end. Now when the end is, that is the question we need to ask."

With British troops on exercise in the Gulf expecting to find out soon if they will be involved in ground action in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister suggested that catching bin Laden may prove impossible as long as the Taliban rules the country.

Asked how close the US-led coalition was to finding bin Laden, Mr Blair began by stressing that "one of our objectives has actually effectively been achieved", the destruction of the al Qaida training camps.

"In respect of bin Laden himself, we know that he is on the move inside Afghanistan," Mr Blair continued.

"But the reason we are having to act now against the regime inside Afghanistan is because they are sheltering him.

"We have considerably destroyed a lot of the military installations of the regime in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime, and we have got to carry on until that regime is changed or yields bin Laden up."

On Wednesday morning, Taliban troops were reportedly holding their ground against US air attacks, launching rockets and mortars towards positions held by the rebel northern alliance.

On Tuesday night American jets also returned to Kabul, repeatedly blasting targets on the outskirts of the city in what appeared to be one of the largest attacks in the capital area.

War planes apparently renewed the attack shortly before dawn today as sounds of heavy bombardment were heard near Kabul's airport.

Mr Blair said that the war was "no easy conflict" but said the Allies were trying to carry out military action in "as targeted a way as possible".

He praised Mr Bush for his handling of the crisis. "All the way through he has taken a very intelligent and measured response," he said. Many people had expected to see "jets taking off, bombs dropping" immediately after the September 11 attacks but Mr Bush had proved them wrong.

"It is due to his genuine view that this was such a terrible event that you can't do something for effect," he said.

Asked what sort of Christmas people had to look forward to, Mr Blair said he hoped that the Allies would have "accomplished or be accomplishing" their aims by then.

"I hope that we have built a really strong coalition against it in all its forms around the world.

"What would be a real blessing would be if the peace process, not just in the Middle East but in Northern Ireland, was in place as well."

In London, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told a news conference at the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday that any British troops needed for operations in Afghanistan would have to be told before their exercise in Oman finished at the end of the month.

"We are in the process of looking at the equipment and the people who are engaged on Saif Sareea (the exercise) and deciding which of those we will need to retain in and around the theatre to support future operations," he said.

More than 20,000 armed forces personnel are currently taking part in the Saif Sareea exercise in the Gulf state of Oman.

Three Commando Brigade includes 40 Commando and 45 Commando – each around 650-strong including expert mountain and winter warfare troops – as well as back up logistics, air defence and artillery troops.

The helicopter carrier HMS Ocean is also in the region as part of the exercise and could provide a platform for operations into Afghanistan.