Removing Saddam Hussein from power will be "tough and difficult," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview broadcast on Friday.
Speaking after wartime talks with US President George W Bush, Blair said it would take time to "prise the grip of Saddam off the country when it's been there
for over 20 years.
"When you've had a whole series of security services repressing the local people, it was never going to be a situation these people were simply going to give up power and go away," Blair told British Broadcasting Corp radio.