US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged yesterday to stick by Iraq in the long term as the country struggles to rebuild itself, a British spokesperson said.

The pair talked for 75 minutes over breakfast in Bush's hotel suite in the French lakeside resort of Evian, where leaders of the Group of Eight are meeting for their annual summit, an official with Blair's delegation said.

Blair briefed the US leader on his lightning visit to southern Iraq on Wednesday, telling Bush that the country needed massive assistance to repair the neglect from decades of Saddam Hussein's rule, the official said.

"They both supported the work that is being done to help Iraq rebuild, and said they would do whatever it takes on this," he said.

The duo additionally discussed the situation in Afghanistan, pledging to continue helping the war-ravaged country recover, and also expressed hope about peace in the Middle East.

Later yesterday, the pair sat down with the leaders of the other G8 nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia for the start of the second day of the summit.

However, Bush ducked out early to head for Egypt on a personal mission to push forward Middle East peace efforts.

Blair was the US's principal backer in the war to unseat Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, committing 45 000 troops to the operation.

On Thursday, the British premier become the first Western leader to visit Iraq since the end of the conflict, travelling to Basra and Umm Qasr in the south of the country to meet officials and personally thank British soldiers.

However much of his current trip, which has also taken him to Kuwait, Poland and Russia this week, has been overshadowed by a spiralling row over whether Britain embellished evidence over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to justify the war. – Sapa-AFP.