"There are bound to be difficult days ahead,” Blair

LONDON, March 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Plagued by reports a second British soldier was killed in Iraq Monday, March 24, British Prime Minister conceded  there are "difficult days ahead" the U.S.-led invasion forces.

In his first statement to MPs since the war began, the Prime Minister sought to staunch a hemorrhage of public support for military action after the losses, setbacks and delays suffered by the U.S.-British invasion forces in recent days, The Independent reported.

Although opinion polls taken since the invasion started show wider support for the war, British Ministers fear it could melt away if the fighting drags on longer than expected, it added.

Worse yet, Blair is still under a heavy fire with one of the Labor's National Executive Committee (NEC) members is trying to force a vote on a motion challenging the legality of the war, the BBC News Online reported.

Blair is likely to be questioned about the second British fatality in war.

Earlier, the first British soldier killed in combat in Iraq was named by the Ministry of Defense as Sergeant Steven Roberts.

The motion instructs Labor General Secretary David Triesman to seek advice from United Nations chiefs about how Britain can be in compliance with the U.N. Charter. It also calls for an emergency meeting of the NEC when the U.N. advice is received.

While it is seen as standing no chance of being passed, Mark Seddon, who submitted the motion, said he is serious about challenging the legality of the war.

"Before the great tragedy of Baghdad unfolds there must be international pressure and hopefully in a small way this might just add to it," he told BBC Radio 4's Today program.

"Difficult Days Ahead"

Blair is expected to meet U.S. President George Bush later this week to discuss the war in Iraq at a time the U.S. and British invasion forces are suffering heavy losses by the Iraqis.

The Iraqi state television showed footage of two men it said were pilots of a downed U.S. Apache helicopter.

In Basra, Iraq's second largest city, fierce Iraqi resistance, including attacks by forces pretending to surrender and using women and children as decoys, forced British troops to withdraw, British officials said.

"We were expecting a lot of hands up from Iraqi soldiers and for the humanitarian operation in Basra to begin fairly quickly behind us, with aid organizations providing food and water to the locals," British Army Captain Patrick Trueman said.

"But it hasn't quite worked out that way," he added.

But Blair dismissed this stiffer-than-expected resistance to the invasion, saying thousands of Iraqi soldiers had surrendered, and more had simply left the field.

"But there are those, closest to Saddam, that are resisting and will resist strongly. They are the elite that are hated by the local population and have little to lose. There are bound, therefore, to be difficult days ahead, but the strategy and its timing are proceeding according to plan." He told the Commons members.

The British forces being held up in the key southern cities of Nasiriyah, a key crossing point over the Euphrates river.

But Blair kept that invasion forces had advanced closer to Baghdad.

Two British soldiers who disappeared on Sunday, March 23, after their Land Rover was ambushed by Iraqi fighters using a rocket-propelled grenade, in the town of al Zubayr, just west of Basra, remained missing Monday night.

No trace had been found of their vehicle and it was feared the pair have been either captured or killed.

Meeting stiff resistance in Basra, British commanders were considering calling in paratroopers and Royal Marine Commandos to assist the battle for Basra after acknowledging it might be necessary to engage in street combat to secure the city.

About 40 U.S. and British invasion forces have been killed in the invasion but the civilian toll is also mounting.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said Al-Sahhaf said 24 people had been killed and 411 injured in bombardments of Baghdad, Karbala, Basra and Babel and another five civilians, including a woman, died when a missile hit a densely-populated area of Baghdad.

Rebel Voices

Some anti-war protests are continuing across Britain to show opposition to war and calls for halting aggression against Iraq.

Around 60 peace demonstrators gathered outside Parliament on Monday as they continued to vent their anger against the war, the BBC News Online reported.

Tom King, Conservative defense secretary during the last Gulf War, said public perception of the invasion forces' progress had been damaged by "premature" claims of successes.

"That gave the impression that the campaign was jumping forward then stepping back," said Lord King.

Labor anti-war MP Alice Mahon was alarmed by the "terrible pictures" shown on al-Jazeera television of women and children killed and injured in Basra.

But in the Commons, Blair repeatedly stressed "the coalition" was doing everything "we humanly can" to avoid civilian casualties, which would happen in any war.

Mahon asked how Blair's pledge to minimize civilian casualties could be squared with the bombing of women and children in Basra. She cited television pictures showing "a child with half its head blown out".

Blair came under pressure from some MPs, including the Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, asking for the United Nations to play a crucial role in the reconstruction of Iraq. The Prime Minister said it was important for the U.N. to be "fully involved".

He added that lessons must be learnt from the shooting down of an RAF Tornado by a US Patriot missile. "We must ensure it does not happen again," he said.