British Prime Minister Tony Blair and visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reiterated on Tuesday their commitment to the social and economic development of Iraq through technical and expert assistance, and institution-building programs.

"The two countries confirm their intention to build on their military and overall cooperation within the framework of the multinational force (MNF) and to pursue new ways of collaboration between their official representatives in Iraq," Blair and Berlusconi said in a joint statement published in their annual summit in London.

Italy and Britain welcomed the transfer of powers from the Coalition Provisional Authority to the interim Iraqi government, the statement said, stressing that this event was a real step toward the final goal of full reintegration of the new, democraticand peaceful Iraq into the international community.

"We welcome the decision of NATO's Istanbul Summit to agree to the request of the new Iraqi government for Alliance help with training Iraq's security forces. We are working together in NATO to ensure the Alliance can provide a coherent and rapid response to this crucial request. We will work together, as allies in NATO and as leading members of the Multinational Force in Iraq to ensure this succeeds," the two leaders said.

"Both countries share the hope that the European Union would be ready to play a stronger role in Iraq's political and economic reconstruction, which should be implemented in a multilateral framework, to strengthen the unity and the cohesion of the international community," they added.

In another development, Blair, the staunchest US ally on Iraq, still defended his decision to join the US-led war against Iraq.

During a joint news conference with Berlusconi after their summit, Blair told reporters that he felt the same on the Iraq issue as he did before the Iraq war broke out in last March.

Blair's comment came one day before an independent inquiry publishes report on its probe into Britain's Iraq intelligence that was behind Blair's decision to join the Iraq war.

Source: Xinhua