The meeting, scheduled for today and tomorrow in Northern Ireland, is the third between Blair and Bush in three weeks. It comes as coalition troops have been battling their way to Baghdad in the war, which broke out on March 20.

Both of the previous US-British summits produced results vital to the Iraq war.

The two leaders decided to give up diplomatic efforts towards a second UN resolution authorizing war on Iraq, at their meeting in Portugal's Azores islands on March 16, four days before Bush launched military action.

During their second meeting on March 27 at Camp David in the United States, Blair and Bush discussed the progress in the military campaign and reached the consensus that the war in Iraq will not be a swift one, given the severe resistance from the Iraqi forces.

However, the second summit left them divided over the role of the United Nations in post-war Iraq. Before his US trip, Blair told a news conference that the two countries had agreed that the United Nations should play a pivotal role.

"It is common ground between us that the UN has to be involved in post-conflict Iraq," said Blair. The British prime minister has been insisting on the central role of the UN in post-war Iraq, with the aim of calming down strong public opposition to the war and putting an end to the severe rift over Iraq between Europe and the United States.

At Camp David, Bush gave no positive reaction to Blair's suggestion of a strong UN role.

Analysts have predicted that this week's summit between Bush and Blair will shape the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, with an agreement on the UN role in it.

The two leaders are expected to bridge the gap between them on the issue. After the Camp David talks, Blair was forced to readjust his tone. Analysts say he has been pursuing a special relationship with Washington in order to restore Britain's traditional role as a transatlantic "bridge".

During prime minister's question time in the House of Commons on April 2, Blair said: "As soon as possible, Iraq should not be run either by the coalition or by the UN - it should be run by Iraqis."

Asked whether an interim government would be led by the United States or the United Nations, Blair said: "In the immediate aftermath of the conflict, of course the coalition forces will be there.

"The United Nations has made it quite clear itself that it does not want to lead an Iraqi government. What it wants is the ability to work with us in partnership to make sure that we assemble the broadest possible representation from within Iraq itself," he added.

The basic principle is that any transitional arrangements and the Iraqi interim authority have to be UN-endorsed, Blair stressed.

Analysts say that Blair's reply failed to answer such questions as when the possible interim government would be handed over to the Iraqi people and who would govern Iraq immediately after the war.

However, they say Blair's remarks at least delivered one clear message: Britain is trying to reach a compromise with the United States over the issue of Iraq's reconstruction.

Echoing Blair, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Brussels on Thursday there would "definitely be a UN role but what the exact nature of that role will be remains to be seen."

The United Nations should be a partner in running Iraq after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is overthrown, Powell said. He was addressing a news conference after talking with 26 counterparts from the European Union and NATO member states, who insisted on a dominant role for the UN in Iraq's post-war reconstruction. But Powell added that the United States and Britain should lead the transition from a military administration to an Iraqi-run government.

On the unresolved dispute between Europe and the United States, Blair might again have to make a difficult choice, but he is very likely to support Washington once again.

As the war in Iraq is still under way, it is premature at this point to discuss Iraq's reconstruction, analysts say, despite the fact that Britain and the United States have already put the issue before the international community.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2003)