"Iraq in the end should not be run by the Americans, should not be run by the British, should not be run by any outside force or power," he told MPs in his weekly question period in the House of Commons.

"It should be run for the first time in decades by the Iraqi people," he said in his most strongly-word statement yet on what Iraq should look like once Saddam's regime has fallen.

Blair reiterated Britain's determination to see that any interim post-war administration in Iraq is endorsed by the United Nations, amid concern that Washington intends to put Americans in charge in Baghdad.

Post-war Iraq should be run "by Iraqi people on basis of a broadly representative government that protects human rights and that is committed to peace and stability in the (Gulf) region," he said.

"I am quite sure that is what the vast majority of the Iraqi people want to see," he added.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was traveling Wednesday to Berlin, then on to NATO headquarters in Brussels, for talks focusing on post-war Iraq and its reconstruction.

SPACE.WIRE