Blair Was 'Ready to Quit' over Iraq: Newspaper

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 18, 2003

Blair Was 'Ready to Quit' over Iraq: Newspaper

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair disclosed that he had been ready to quit office if a majority of lawmakers from his ruling Labor Party had opposed his decision to join the US-led war on Iraq, The Sun newspaper quoted him as saying on Friday.

Blair told the British top-selling tabloid that he had put his job "on the line" and instructed civil servants to prepare for his resignation if he lost last month's crucial Commons vote that authorized war in Iraq.

"In the end, it is a decision you put the whole of the premiership on the line for," Blair said in his first interview since the start of the war on Iraq on March 20.

Blair also told the paper that he had even sat down to tell his children the vote would be "very difficult" and he feared he may be finished.

"I found it very frustrating and extraordinary," Blair said, adding that he had been "very upset" when the a British-initiated second UN resolution authorizing military action against Iraq failed to get support from most members of the Security Council.

Blair, who has firmly backed the United States in this war with Iraq, also acknowledged that he had been worried at times about the coalition's military .

Blair faced intense opposition from many Britons, particularly Labor members, although recent polls show a majority now support his decision to commit British troops.

Before the war started, some opponents suggested Blair might lose his job as prime minister over Iraq.

More than 130 Labor lawmakers voted for an amendment against Blair's backing for the US run-up to war with Iraq, insisting that the government had not made a case for military action.

It was the biggest House of Commons revolt against Blair's policy since the party came to power in 1997.

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