London: British military commanders took part in a meeting with their US counterparts in June 2002 to discuss invasion of Iraq and despite his denials Premier Tony Blair might have agreed in principle to join the proposed US war as early as April 2002, a newspaper report said today (Sep 29, 2004), quoting a leaked Pentagon document.

The secret briefing paper of Pentagon suggested that Blair agreed in principle to join the invasion of Iraq at his April 2002 summit with US President George W Bush at Texas something that the Prime Minister has always denied, the 'Evening Standard' reported.

The war-planning meeting of June 2002 apart, the orders to prepare actual military operations were given on October 7, 2002, more than a month before a UN resolution giving a final warning to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the newspaper reported.

That also meant Britain was involved in planning for war in Iraq for at least nine months before MPs approved military action.