Blair article seeks to allay fears of the Arab world

Tony Blair has made a direct appeal to the Arab world, assuring it that British forces are not fighting "a war of conquest but of liberation" and will leave Iraq "as soon as practicable".

In an article published in several Arab newspapers, the Prime Minister claimed "history will judge that we made the right choice" over Iraq.

His call to Middle Eastern peoples is part of the propaganda battle being fought by coalition forces.

The Government is concerned by the lack of backing in the Arab world for the war on Iraq and accusations that America and Britain are planning to occupy the country after toppling Saddam Hussein's regime. Mr Blair said his quarrel was "not with the Iraqi people but with Saddam, his sons, and his barbarous regime which has brought misery and terror to their country".

"I recognise that the Iraqi people have been the biggest victims of Saddam's rule. This is not a war of conquest but of liberation," he said.

Mr Blair said coalition forces were doing "all that is humanly possible to minimise civilian casualties and finish this campaign quickly", but admitted that "mistakes will be made" and military conflict "always leads to the loss of civilian lives".

The Prime Minister said there "has been no rush to conflict" and Britain and America "had hoped that military action could be avoided".

He said going to war was "a hard and difficult decision", but he believed it would "make the Middle East and the wider world a safer place". Mr Blair insisted that Britain was not in favour of military government.

The article, published on 29 March, follows reports of young Arab men travelling to Iraq to fight for the Iraqi regime.