Mr Tony Blair was continuing his Middle East peace initiative yesterday as the British Foreign Office forecast rebuilding Afghanistan could take 10 years.
Before taking time out to assure the British public that the international crisis would not derail his government's public service agenda, the Prime Minister met King Abdullah of Jordan in an ongoing effort to cement support for the international coalition among Middle East states.
Yesterday's meeting followed Monday's talks with Mr Yasser Arafat, the PLO leader, and Mr Blair declaration that "a viable Palestinian state" was essential to any durable Middle East settlement.
Downing Street described the meeting with King Abdullah as "further evidence that the coalition remains strong" while confirming that Mr Blair will meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, next month.
The 10-year forecast for the reconstruction of Afghanistan came in a Foreign Office document setting out allied objectives in the war on global terrorism. The document hinted at possible future action against states continuing to harbour international terrorists.
It said that if Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime continued to defy the United States' demand that it hand over Osama bin Laden and his associates, it would be necessary to bring about "sufficient change in the leadership to ensure that Afghanistan's links to international terrorism are broken". Following Mr Blair repeated assurance that the allies "will not walk away" from Afghanistan after the conflict is ended, the document says "reconstruction" following its conclusion will be difficult to start until there is a secure environment within Afghanistan and could take five to 10years to complete.
"Only sustained international development effort has any chance of ridding Afghanistan of heroin and the domination of war lords," it concludes.
At the same time the document stressed that a wider campaign would eventually involve the pursuit of terrorists around the world.
"Where states are powerless to put a stop to terrorism on their territory, assistance will have to be made available," it says: "Where states are unwilling to take effective action they will face a vigorous response from the wider international community."
This seemed bound to provoke further debate inside the UK about the government's war aims as six Labour MPs denounced the bombing campaign as "a daily propaganda victory" for the terrorists responsible for the September 11th atrocities. In a motion in the Commons the MPs declared: "The grief and suffering of innocent victims in the USA cannot be answered by the bombing and starvation of equally innocent victims in Afghanistan."
Meanwhile the Lord Chancellor has suggested that new anti-terrorist measures may not require amendment of the government's existing Human Rights Act.
On Monday the Home Secretary Mr Blunkett signalled he might have to seek a derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights for proposals to detain asylum-seekers believed associated with terrorism.