British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday denied reports that his foreign minister, Jack Straw, had warned him a year before the US-led invasion of Iraq that a war could push the country into chaos.
"He didn't do anything of the sort. What he warned of is this : that it is important not to replace one dictator, Saddam Hussein, by another dictator," Blair told reporters.
"The idea that we didn't have a plan for afterwards is simply not correct. We did, but there are people in Iraq who are determined to stop us," he said on the sidelines of talks on the Northern Irish peace process at Leeds Castle, south-east England.
"Terrorist groups are prepared to kill and take hostages to prevent Iraq from becoming a stable country," Blair said.
"That is why it is all the more important that we carry on until we win it. And we will."
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Saturday that secret papers sent to Blair a year before the US-led invasion of Iraq warned of the risks of Iraq sliding into post-war chaos.
One of the warnings came from Blair's own foreign secretary, Straw, who predicted in March 2002 that post-war Iraq was liable to be a source of major problems, the newspaper said.