Two-thirds said Blair cared more about supporting Bush than about British public opinion

LONDON, January 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Blair arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in the U.S. late Thursday, January 30 ahead of talks with U.S President George W. Bush over their plans to attack Iraq as anti war public opinion is still on the rise in Britain.

Meanwhile, a poll published Friday, January 31, showed that eighty-four percent of Britons oppose unilateral U.S.-led military action against Iraq without further backing from the United Nations.

The ICM survey for the Daily Mirror newspaper and the GMTV television company found 43 percent said there should be no war with or without a fresh UN resolution.

Meanwhile 41 percent would support military action only if a fresh UN mandate was secured.

And 84 percent of 1,004 adults questioned said British troops should not be committed to hostilities until the House of Commons had given its blessing to military action in a vote.

Two-thirds of those questioned, 66 percent, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair cared more about supporting U.S. President George W. Bush than about British public opinion.

The Mirror also reported that nearly 165,000 people had signed an anti-war petition it had launched.

A separate YouGov poll of 1,100 people for Britain's independent Channel 4 television network found 47 percent now viewed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as a serious threat, up from 42 percent earlier this month.

Just 14 percent agreed there was enough evidence at the moment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and the time had come to launch a military attack.

‘Blair Meets Bush’

Meanwhile, Blair arrived at Andrews Air Force Base late Thursday, January 30 ahead of talks with U.S President George W. Bush over their plans to attack Iraq.

The plane carrying Blair touched down around 10:35 pm (0335 GMT Friday). He will head to the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David on Friday, for talks with Bush on Iraq, AFP said.

The British premier made a lightning stopover in Madrid en route to Washington, where he met with Spain's prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, during a two-hour stopover in the Spanish capital.

Blair is by far Bush's strongest ally on Iraq, committing 30,000 troops, 120 tanks and 15-odd warships, including an aircraft carrier, to a possible strike on Iraq.