In a televised address to the nation, Blair said, "Tonight British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction."

"Dictators like Saddam and terrorist groups like the al-Qaeda threaten the very existence of such a world. That is why I have asked out troops to go into action tonight," Blair said.

Blair also told his people that Britain is totally committed topost-Saddam humanitarian effort, adding that Iraqi oil revenues would be held in a UN trust fund for the country's benefit.

Blair, who firmly supports US tough line on Iraq, admitted in his statement that there was domestic opposition to war with Iraq.

However, he said, Britons would unite in supporting their armed forces.

"Britain has never been a nation to hide at the back and even if we were, it wouldn't avail us," he added.

In his address, Blair also stressed that US President Bush and he have committed themselves to peace in the Middle East based on a secure state of Israel and a viable Palestinian state.

"We will strive to see it done," Blair said.

Blair's prerecorded statement, the first public word since the US-led missile strike on Baghdad earlier in the day, was seen as a signal of an acceleration of the war on Iraq.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon earlier told the lawmakers in the House of Commons that Blair would make the broadcast once British troops were "substantially engaged" in combat.

Blair on Thursday afternoon left for Brussels to attend a two-day European Union summit.

Britain has deployed about 45,000 troops in the Gulf for the US-led war against Iraq.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2003)