Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo:

"The memo seen by Prof Sands reveals:

· Mr Bush told Mr Blair that the US was so worried about the failure to find hard evidence against Saddam that it thought of 'flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours'. Mr Bush added: 'If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]'.

· Mr Bush even expressed the hope that a defector would be extracted from Iraq and give a 'public presentation about Saddam's WMD'. He is also said to have referred Mr Blair to a 'small possibility' that Saddam would be 'assassinated'.

· Mr Blair told the US president that a second UN resolution would be an 'insurance policy', providing 'international cover, including with the Arabs' if anything went wrong with the military campaign, or if Saddam increased the stakes by burning oil wells, killing children, or fomenting internal divisions within Iraq.

· Mr Bush told the prime minister that he 'thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups'. Mr Blair did not demur, according to the book.

The revelation that Mr Blair had supported the US president's plans to go to war with Iraq even in the absence of a second UN resolution contrasts with the assurances the prime minister gave parliament shortly after. On February 25 2003 - three weeks after his trip to Washington - Mr Blair told the Commons that the government was giving 'Saddam one further, final chance to disarm voluntarily'.

He added: 'Even now, today, we are offering Saddam the prospect of voluntary disarmament through the UN. I detest his regime - I hope most people do - but even now, he could save it by complying with the UN's demand. Even now, we are prepared to go the extra step to achieve disarmament peacefully.'

On March 18, before the crucial vote on the war, he told MPs: 'The UN should be"