BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, arrived in Kuwait last night for talks with local leaders before going on to thank British troops in Iraq for their part in toppling Saddam Hussein's regime.
But behind him in the UK, Mr Blair left angry opponents in his own party demanding he respond to the acknowledgement by the US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, that Saddam might have got rid of all his weapons of mass destruction before the start of the US-led war.
The former British foreign secretary, Mr Robin Cook, who resigned in protest at Mr Blair's support for the war, said he should admit he was wrong.
Mr Cook said Mr Rumsfeld's "breathtaking" comments proved he was right to quit as Commons Leader in protest at the war.
He said: "That does not add up. If Donald Rumsfeld is now admitting the weapons are not there, the truth is the weapons probably haven't been there for quite a long time.
"It matters immensely because the basis on which the war was sold to the British House of Commons, to the British people, was that Saddam represented a serious threat," he said.
Other opponents of war in Iraq also seized on Mr Rumsfeld's speech. The former Cabinet minister Mr Tony Benn said it showed Mr Blair's justification for war had been based on falsehoods. Mr Benn told a London radio station: "I believe the Prime Minister lied to us and lied to us and lied to us.
"The whole war was built upon falsehood and I think the long-term damage will be to democracy in Britain. If you can't believe what you are told by ministers, then the whole democratic process is put at risk.
"You can't be allowed to get away with telling lies for political purposes."
Mr Benn added: "I don't believe a word Donald Rumsfeld says. He told us the war was about the weapons when it wasn't - it was about the determination of the American Government to seize Iraqi oil.
"We were lied to day after day after day and now the explanation is perhaps they were destroyed. We were told we had the war because he hadn't destroyed them."
Former minister Ms Glenda Jackson said: "This war was fought on illegal and immoral grounds and there were no reasons for it.
"If the creators of this war are now saying weapons of mass destruction were destroyed before the war began, then all the government ministers who stood on the floor in the House of Commons adamantly speaking of the immediate threat posed by Iraq's weapons are now standing on shaky ground."
Mr Blair will be hoping that "feel-good" pictures of him meeting British troops in Iraq will overshadow the controversy.
Asked whether visiting the soldiers was personally important to him, he replied: "Yes, it is important.
"But it's most important to thank the troops on behalf of the country because this was, more than any other conflict in recent times, a very, very tough conflict and people risked their lives, in some cases, lost their lives." - (Reuters/PA)