LONDON, July 22 (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted Thursday he had faced a "testing time" amid controversy over intelligence failings on Iraq, but insisted the sacrifice of British soldiers in the US-led war was worthwhile.
In a tough grilling at a monthly press conference, Blair was quizzed at length about last week's report slamming as flawed much of Britain's pre-war intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Asked whether the findings meant he had sent soldiers to war on a false premise, and should thus apologise to the families of those killed, Blair expressed "deep sympathy" for the bereaved.
"But I actually do believe that they gave their lives in a cause that was important for our security, for the security of the wider world," the prime minister said.
An inquiry headed by ex-top civil servant Lord Robin Butler concluded last week that information about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction -- Blair's main argument for joining the US-led conflict -- was often very shaky.
Blair appears to have escaped largely unscathed from the aftermath of the report, but controversy over the WMD issue had proved tough, the prime minister admitted.
"Without any doubt this has been a testing time over the past few months but the government has come through it strengthened and renewed," Blair said.
"There are big challenges ahead, undoubtedly. But I think we can look forward, with renewed confidence, and indeed some optimism, that we are going to meet those challenges successfully."
Blair, hit by falling opinion poll ratings following the Iraq war, also hinted at his determination to lead the Labour Party into another general election, expected next year, and beyond.
"We have just been publishing these five-year strategies and I want to see them through," he said.
The press grilling was among the last chores faced by Blair before an imminent -- and doubtless welcome -- summer break.
Parliament was closing for a seven-week recess later Thursday, with only an expected minor reshuffle of ministers still to be undertaken by the prime minister.
Keen to press home his point for a final time, Blair said he remained convinced his decision to back the Iraq war was "necessary, for the security of this country and the security of the wider world".
"And I can't say that I believe that to be wrong," he said.
"I still believe that had we backed away from enforcing United Nations resolutions against Iraq, then we would have left not just Saddam (Hussein) in charge of Iraq, we would have left Iraq an unsafe, unsecure country, who did pose a threat, on what we know now, to the region, and that would have been the wrong thing to do."
There was now the prospect, he added, "of turning Iraq into a stable and democratic country, which will have a huge impact, without any doubt at all, on the stability and security of our world".