Military strategists in London and Washington claimed a successful conclusion to the 70-hour campaign in Iraq while the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, outlined the future strategy for the region based on "containment and stability".
This includes the deployment of the aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible, to the Gulf next month. The 20,000-tonne ship is expected to arrive shortly after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Following talks with several EU leaders during the weekend, in particular France, which has been deeply sceptical about the use of force against Iraq, Mr Blair expressed confidence in the "common ground" for the future.
At a Ministry of Defence briefing, Mr Blair explained that from the outset of last week's punitive campaign in Iraq, London had been working with Washington on "the day after". That future strategy would essentially be to "cage" President Saddam. It will hinge on a combination of the use of force if Iraq's neighbours are threatened or if Mr Saddam continues to develop weapons of mass destruction, and a new "intensive" diplomatic initiative with members of the UN Security Council to stabilise relations with Iraq and "radically" enforce UN sanctions.
Holding out the possibility of a return of UNSCOM inspection teams to Iraq, the prime minister said Iraq must demonstrate "in practical ways a completely different order of readiness to fulfil its obligations in future if the UNSCOM route is to have any part to play."
Alongside the stricter enforcement of UN sanctions, Mr Blair said he wanted to explore ways in which to help the ordinary people of Iraq by ensuring food and medicine got to the grassroots. Intensive surveillance of troop movements in Iraq would be stepped up and had been made possible by the allied forces' devastation of Iraq's southern air defence system, he said.
Mr Blair also said the opposition in Iraq would continue to be courted by Britain and the US. There were plans to support radio and television stations in the region. However there was a belief among officials in the Foreign Office that the "diverse" nature of the opposition could not mount a coalition force strong enough to oust President Saddam.
Mr Blair also revealed the campaign in Iraq had "severely damaged" defence and communication sites in the southern zone of Iraq, which had made President Saddam "more vulnerable" and had severely set back his chemical and biological weapons programme.
Last night, Mr Blair spoke to Britain's Tornado pilots of his anxiety during Operation Desert Fox to learn that they had all returned safely to base from their missions over Iraq.
Mr Blair arranged a special telephone call to officers stationed at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and to the station commander at their squadron's home base in Lossiemouth. He told Wing Commander Steve Barnes and Group Captain Bob Burrough in Kuwait that they and their men had performed "a tremendous job".
Mr Blair told the officers that each night they were flying - Thursday, Friday and Saturday - he was unable to sleep until he knew they had returned. The prime minister told Group Captain Alan Hudson, station commander at Lossiemouth, that he had shared the concerns of the families waiting at home.
The British Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, said Britain's 12 Tornado bombers, stationed in Kuwait, would remain on high alert despite the ending of the military campaign in Iraq. He said they would be ready to act again if Mr Saddam sought to reconstitute his chemical and biological warfare programme, and he insisted the world was a safer place than it had been a week ago.
Speaking on ITV's Dimbleby programme, he said: "He [Saddam] has been given a warning through this particular measure that the international community is not prepared to put up with this sort of threat. We in this country intimately know what terrorism means and terrorists have to know they will pay a price, a very heavy price, if they use these weapons or they use terrorism in the future."
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Sir Charles Guthrie, described the extent of the carefully structured military operation.
During the four-day attack on Iraq, 93 military installations, including a ballistic missile factory and strongholds of the Republican Guard, were either destroyed or extensively damaged. The targets included 30 chemical, biological and nuclear weapons sites; 33 air defence targets, including six airfields were damaged; 10 Republican Guard barracks and 20 command and control centres were hit, Sir Charles said.