Iraq tops agenda at Bush-Blair farewell summit

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) US President George W Bush and outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a farewell summit today, the two unlikely allies united to the end by their commitment to an Iraq war unpopular in both countries.

Blair's last scheduled visit to Washington before stepping down on June 27 underscored the price he has paid for embracing Bush and enlisting in the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, for which critics at home derided him as ''Bush's poodle.'' While the war has damaged both leaders' standing, it is Blair who will leave office in mid-term, under pressure from within his own Labour Party to step aside before the next general election expected in 2009.

Blair, more popular in the United States than at home, was welcomed with open arms at the White House, where he spent the night in the same room where Winston Churchill slept during wartime visits decades ago.

''You're a famous person,'' Bush said warmly to his guest as they posed for cameras before a private dinner yesterday.

Their talks were expected to include ways to narrow US-European differences on global warming before next month's G8 summit in Germany, advance stalled world trade talks and keep pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

The White House did not rule out discussion of the fate of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, a former Bush administration official and architect of the Iraq invasion and is under pressure to resign over a generous package he arranged for his companion.

IRAQ WAR But the overarching issue in the talks was expected to be the Iraq war, which forged the Bush-Blair friendship and which analysts believe will be decisive in deciding their legacies.

The two participated in a video teleconference with US and British commanders and diplomats in Baghdad, said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

Bush administration officials hoped Blair would provide moral support to help fend off an opposition-led Congress demanding timetables for a US withdrawal.

And Bush will be looking for further assurances that Blair's presumed successor, finance minister Gordon Brown, will not lessen Britain's resolve in Iraq.

Brown has accepted that mistakes were made in Iraq but has ruled out an immediate pullout.

When Blair announced last Thursday he would step down next month, Bush said he would miss him but was ready to work with Brown, confident he ''understands the consequences of failure'' in Iraq.

But Brown is considered unlikely to form the kind of close personal bond Blair has with Bush. The two have seemed an odd couple -- Bush the rich Texas Republican with strong conservative views and Blair the head of a center-left party with socialist origins.

But Blair stood by Bush on Iraq when many other European leaders distanced themselves from the war or openly criticized it. He has insisted he has no regrets, even after finding Iraq did not have the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction that were initially used to justify the war.

Reuters PB DB2127