"You can draw a distinction between the elite and the top echelons, and the people lower down, those who were under extreme fear for their own safety," the spokesman said in a press briefing in London.

The spokesman rejected suggestions that coalition forces had allowed Iraq to descend into anarchy after the regime's fall. Such a description was "wrong and an exaggeration," he said.

While stressing that scenes of looting and disorder seen in recent days could not be condoned, the spokesman insisted: "We need to keep a sense of perspective. Things have gone extremely well this week. It could be better, it will get better. It could have been a whole lot worse."

Baghdad has been left shattered and lawless with widespread looting after three weeks of heavy US bombing and the collapse of Saddam's regime.

On the formation of an interim Iraqi authority to assume responsibility for running the country, Blair's spokesman said that the coalition would not be imposing its own favourites on the Iraqis.

He said "nobody is talking about parachuting in an interim authority ... it's a collaborative process."

Blair hoped to meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at a meeting of EU leaders in Athens next week, the spokesman said.

SPACE.WIRE