Blair faces summit clash on Iraq

Tony Blair today faced fresh criticism over Iraq as he flew to a summit of centre-left world leaders.

Divisions over the war were threatening to overshadow a gathering of the so-called Third Way group which the Prime Minister co-founded as a way of extending his influence.

Mr Blair was expected to make an appeal to his fellow leaders to "move on" from the conflict and focus on economic and social reforms. But other countries insisted they expected Iraq to be firmly on the agenda, raising the prospect of a bruising debate behind closed doors.

It came as fresh controversy broke over the legality of the war and the worsened security situation around Baghdad.

The Foreign Office stepped up warnings to travellers, saying Britons faced a "direct threat of kidnap" if they ventured to northern Iraq.

The new warning, a week after the murder of Ken Bigley, marked an admission that the terrorist threat had significantly increased.

Previously the official advice spoke of a "dangerous security situation" but that has been upgraded to warn of an imminent upsurge in attacks.

The new advice read: "There is a direct threat of kidnap to foreign nationals in northern Iraq and we believe that British nationals may be targeted. It is likely that there will be an increase in the number of attacks during Ramadan from 15 October to 14 November."

Mr Blair is due to arrive in Budapest tonight for the Progressive Governance summit, where half the 13 prime ministers and presidents from five continents attending were against the US-led invasion. But before he set off, his close ally Peter Mandelson raised eyebrows at the summit by appearing to distance himself from the decision to go to war without UN backing.

Mr Mandelson, speaking at the opening in Hungary, said no-one could doubt the war would have been a "lesser problem if a second resolution had been agreed and had the UN been in the driving seat from the start".

The conference is billed as an informal forum for discussing public services, welfare reform, social justice and the global economy. Downing Street was playing down the prospect of a clash over Iraq, saying the issue is not expected to be on the agenda.

Mr Blair hopes to make global warming a key issue. But Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero warned that Mr Blair was likely to be challenged on Iraq and the controversy over weapons of mass destruction.

The conference comes less than 24 hours after Mr Blair apologised in the Commons for misleading Britain over Saddam Hussein's weapons.

Relations between the British and the Spanish have come close to collapse since socialist Mr Zapatero's victory at the Spanish polls in March.

He triggered a diplomatic crisis hours after his election by announcing plans to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. In a further blow, Spain last month turned its back on Britain to stage a summit with France and Germany.

Chancellor Gerard Schroder has pulled out of the summit because of other commitments. Prime Ministers and Presidents from Sweden, Romania, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Ethiopia, Chile, Poland and Hungary are expected to attend.