The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, urged the British people to patience last night as he warned of "the most testing time" to come over the next few weeks of allied action in Afghanistan.
As President Bush told journalists in California that allied action was paving the way for "friendly troops" to tighten the "net of justice" around Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, Mr Blair again acknowledged the risk of British casualties as the military action moved into its next phase.
The Prime Minister told a briefing of Arab journalists in Downing Street: "I believe that the next few weeks will be the most testing time but we are on track to achieve the goals we set out."
He refused to be drawn on the precise nature of the next phase of the campaign: "I don't think we have ever contemplated this being done by air power alone. There will be further action that we are considering taking, again targeted. There is support for the Northern Alliance being given and there is the continuing weakening of the Taliban regime."
As Mr Blair was speaking, Britain announced the cancellation of Pakistan's £20 million debt and Scotland Yard said it was investigating the activities of 24 terrorist suspects, including two or three "very good suspects." Police are also investigating several people suspected of involvement in anthrax scares across Britain this week. Another anthrax scare caused the closure of a postal sorting office in Birmingham yesterday. Staff discovered a suspicious letter addressed to Mr Blair.