Blair delivers Bali statement

Prime Minister Tony Blair has today told MPs that the fight against global terrorism, in the wake of the Bali bombings, can go on side by side with the struggle to disarm Saddam Hussain's regime of its weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Blair, in an emergency Commons statement, tackled head on critics who claim that America and the UK's focus on Iraq has meant they have "taken their eye off the ball" in the war against international terrorism.

The Prime Minister also repeated to MPs his view that the Bali bomb attack was "an act of pure wickedness".

He spelt out how Britain is helping both survivors, victims and their families and the practical help being given to the Indonesian government.

Mr Blair pointed out that with 33 Britons feared among the dead the outrage is on a par with the worst casualty figures suffered by the UK as a result of a terrorist act.

He will offer his Indonesian counterpart ,Mrs Megawati, practical support from Britain, including support from intelligence agencies.

The Prime Minister stressed that although the perpetrators of the bomb outrage are still unknown there are terrorist groups in the region known to have links with al Qaida.