The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has again vowed that the allies will hand over control of Iraq to its people as soon as possible after the war.In his latest quest to win Arab and Muslim "hearts and minds", Mr Blair went on the BBC's Arabic service to counter cynicism about the promised relaunch of the Middle East peace process and again reject speculation that the US is already planning military action against Iran and Syria.
With British forces on the ground set to deliver printed copies of Mr Blair's "liberation" message, the Prime Minister insisted that British forces would not stay "a day longer than necessary" in Iraq.
Assuring Iraqis that this time, Saddam Hussein would "be gone", Mr Blair said: "The one thing I want to make absolutely clear is that at the end of this, Iraq is not going to be run by Americans or Britons or by any other outside power.
"As soon as the process of transition is over, it's going to be run by Iraqi people and a broad, representative government, not a small clique around someone like Saddam."
Mr Blair also insisted that US and British forces were not responsible for the bomb which claimed at least 15 lives in a Baghdad street market on March 26th. He said the numbers who had lost their lives so far was small in comparison with "the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their lives under Saddam".
However, as he again pledged the determination of the allies to do everything possible to minimise civilian casualties, Mr Blair was under fire from anti-war Labour MPs demanding the suspension of the Easter recess or the guaranteed recall of parliament if the conflict escalates.
A motion by the left-wing socialist campaign group of Labour MPs said the Commons should either sit through Easter or be recalled if there was an escalation of hostilities.
In a sign of their readiness to renew Labour Party warfare over the conflict, the MPs said: "Despite the sanitisation of government spin and much of the British media coverage, the full horrors of this war are becoming apparent to people around the world."
The motion continued: "The government must explain what sort of liberation is being offered to the babies killed by missile attacks on a maternity hospital, children mutilated by cluster-bombs, the massacre of unarmed women and children at the checkpoint in Najaf and innocent Iraqis of all ages blown to pieces in Baghdad suburbs and market-places."
At the same time, the Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, was under fire for defending the use of cluster-bombs and insisting that to rule out their use would endanger the lives of British forces. Describing cluster-bombs as a "perfectly legal weapon" with "a highly legitimate role", Mr Hoon insisted: "If we did not use them we would be putting our forces at greater and, therefore, unnecessary risk."
But Amnesty International's UK director, Ms Kate Allen, said Mr Hoon was overlooking the fact that these weapons were likely to kill and maim civilians in Iraq now and "for years to come".
In Downing Street, meanwhile, the battle for British hearts and minds continued as five Iraqis told Mr Blair how they fled their country after being persecuted and tortured by Saddam's regime.
After some slippage in support for the initial decision to take military action earlier this week, Mr Blair was bolstered by the latest survey for the Daily Telegraph, showing increased public optimism about the conduct of the war, clearly fuelled by reports of the allied advances over the past two days.
However, large numbers also believed the conclusion of the war was likely to leave the world more dangerous than before.