Bush, Blair vow to weed out Saddam Alt tag: US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair Thurmont (Maryland): President George W Bush, meeting with top war ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said on March 27 that coalition forces were "advancing day by day" through Iraq. He and Blair demanded that the United Nations' "oil-for- food" programme be immediately restored.

Blair, standing alongside Bush at the President's Camp David mountaintop retreat, declared that "Saddam Hussein and his hateful regime will be removed from power".

"Iraq will be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction. And the Iraqi people will be freed. That is our commitment. That is our determination, and we will see it done," Blair added.

Blair said he and Bush had decided to seek new UN resolutions on humanitarian relief, post-war administration for Iraq and a promise to keep Iraq's territorial boundaries intact.

Bush and Blair were briefed on the progress of the war in Iraq after a week of fierce combat, meeting amid growing signs Iraqi forces have dug in for a prolonged fight.