Amid days of speculation that Britain would send extra troops to Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that his country has "sufficient" ground troops in the Arab country.

"We keep the question of troops under review...The advice that we have now is that we have sufficient troops to do the job," Blair told reporters at a joint news conference with visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Britain currently has 7,500 troops in southern Iraq, but media reports said that an expansion of Britain's role in Iraq, including more troops, was set to be made to ease the emergency brought on by the Spanish government's decision to withdraw its 1,300 soldiers from Iraq.

At the news conference, Blair, the staunchest ally of US President George W. Bush on Iraq, also said that Britain and Italy would stand together to face the escalating violence in Iraq.

Berlusconi said that the coalition forces are in Iraq because they have a mission of building democracy in the country and they hope that the Iraqi people would have a stable situation.

On the Middle East issue, Blair said that he could understand the frustration about the development of the peace process in the region, but the international community need to find a balance solution in the Middle East.

"We have to balance the suffering of both sides," Blair said.

Blair's comments came after 52 former British diplomats on Monday signed a letter criticizing his policy on the Middle East.

In the letter, the diplomats, including ambassadors, high commissioners and governors, urged Blair to start influencing America's "doomed" policy in the Middle East or stop backing it.

On Iraq, the diplomats said there was "no effective plan for the post-Saddam settlement."

They also attacked US President Bush for endorsing Israel's plan to retain some settlements in the West Bank and criticized Blair's public support for the policy, which they believe is "one-sided and illegal" and will "cost yet more Israeli and Palestinian blood."

Source: Xinhua