Blasts ahead of Blair trip

Four bombs blasted British banks in Turkey hours before a visit today by Tony Blair.

They went off outside branches of HSBC in Ankara and Istanbul as the Prime Minister was preparing to fly in for talks with the Turkish government.

The attacks - blamed on Islamic extremists - caused minor damage and no deaths. Six months ago 60 people died in four bomb attacks in Turkey. Among the dead was Britain's consul-general Roger Short.

The latest bombings appeared to be an attempt to disrupt Mr Blair's talks with Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which were to cover the crisis in Iraq as well as EU enlargement.

It came as Britain and America agreed a new plan to speed up the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq.

In a marked change of tone, Downing Street sources were speaking of pulling out as quickly as possible. Previously, ministers have emphasised their determination to stay "as long as it takes" to keep Iraq secure.

The new exit strategy will mean greater sovereignty for the interim Iraqi government which is due to take power from the coalition authority on 30 June.

Over the summer the Iraqis will take control of their own national army and police force and will be helped to establish an intelligence agency and counter-terrorism capability.

British and American forces will stay only until the security situation is calmer. "The crucial difference is that coalition troops will remain only with the consent of the Iraqi government," said a senior government official.

No date has been set for a full withdrawal. The aim instead is to speed up the exit by promoting Iraq's ability to take over its own security and

to win local support by switching policing to Iraqis wearing their own national uniform.

Mr Blair is said to have agreed the plan in two phone conversations with President Bush over recent days.

One British official said the Americans were "learning lessons from the way British forces have run things in the south".

This was a reference to Britain's success in promoting Iraqi political involvement and security training in the

zone around Basra. Downing Street said the aim was to withdraw British troops "as quickly as possible" but emphasised that forces would not leave until Iraq was able to manage its own government and security.

"This is not a cut-and-run strategy," said a senior official. "It is a positive strategy for getting out as quickly as possible but on the same terms we have always set, which is to leave behind a secure and

democratic state." The White House was meanwhile fighting against shock new allegations that defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was personally responsible for the prisoner abuse scandal.

A report claimed Mr Rumsfeld approved a secret plan that allowed commanders to kill, capture or interrogate socalled high-value targets in the war against terrorism.

The Pentagon insisted Mr Rumsfeld neither knew nor approved of the abuse of prisoners, which led to photographs of naked Iraqis being humiliated by US troops. Spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the abuses had "no basis in any sanctioned programme, training manual, instruction or order in the department of defence".

Ministers face more pressure in a Commons debate this afternoon when Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs are set to demand a fresh vote in Parliament before any more troops are deployed. Up to 3,000 more soldiers, including 800 marines, are expected to be sent to the area within weeks.

But Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon ruled out allowing MPs to vote on the move. Former foreign secretary Robin Cook said Britain should withdraw "as soon as elections have been held, as soon as there is a democratic government to run Iraq, we're getting out".