Blair: I agree with Bush on Iraq
 |  Blair: Coalition troops to remain under American command. |
|  VIDEO |
 Blair says British troops will stay in Iraq "until the job is done."
 CNN's John King breaks down President Bush's Iraq policy speech.
 The president lays out a plan for the transition of power in Iraq.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the House of Commons he is "absolutely agreed" with U.S. President George W. Bush on the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq.
He said multinational forces would remain in Iraq by the consent of the interim government which will have ultimate strategic decision-making powers, but there was no question of coalition troops being under anything other than coalition command.
"We are both absolutely agreed there should be full sovereignty transferred to the Iraqi people and that the multinational force should remain under American command," Blair said when questioned about apparent discrepancies between London and Washington.
Blair told MPs the Iraqi government would be put in control of prisons after the June 30 handover. But he said the coalition may have to take some responsibility until the Iraqi authorities built up their capability.
Asked if Britain would be sending extra troops to Iraq, the prime minister said no decision on additional troops for Iraq had yet been made and that Parliament would be kept fully informed when it was.
Blair was clarifying his position following media reports saying he was at odds with Bush on who would have control of coalition troops after the handover.
On Tuesday, Blair said the interim Iraqi government due to run the country from July will have a veto over the military operations of multinational troops.
But within hours U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell contradicted him, saying that although American troops would remain in Iraq under the consent of the new Iraq government, "U.S. forces remain under U.S. command, and will do what is necessary to protect themselves."
Blair had alluded to actions by U.S. troops at his monthly news conference Tuesday, saying: "Let me make it 100 percent clear, after June 30 there will be the full transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi government.
"If there is a political decision as to whether you go into a place like Fallujah in a particular way, that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government and the final political control remains with the Iraqi government.
"That's what the transfer of sovereignty means."
British media made much of the apparent split Wednesday.
The Daily Telegraph said Powell had "snubbed" and "rebuffed" Blair.
The Guardian's headline was "Blair jumps the gun on Iraq veto."
The paper said that Blair had gone "out of step" with Washington "trying to address widespread skepticism in the Arab world and Europe that the transfer of power will be genuine."
Key members of the U.N. security council had reacted guardedly to a joint U.S.-British draft resolution Monday providing for the handover of power in Baghdad from the coalition to Iraqis.
French President Jacques Chirac's office said the French head of state told U.S. President George W. Bush in a telephone conversation that there must be a "real" transfer of power to Iraqis on June 30. (Full story)
Diplomats from the 15 UN Security Council nations were meeting in New York Wednesday for informal talks on a resolution to underpin the restoration of sovereignty in Iraq.
Split denied
Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott played down talk of a split Wednesday calling media reports "complete rubbish."
He said the media were looking at the statements from London and Washington through the "prism of differences."
Speaking on BBC Radio, he said: "There will be a transfer of sovereignty on June 30. The question then comes 'does this mean complete control of the armed forces in these circumstances?'
"There is no doubt about it, we will be passing from a national security committee that makes these decisions at the moment to the Iraqi government and they will make all the proper decisions about security and policies to be pursued in relation to terrorism."
The "PMQs" session was the first since last week when the sitting was abandoned after purple flour bombs were hurled at Blair in the House of Commons chamber.
Britain's parliament has restricted access to members of the public, one week after the powder missile attack on prime minister Blair.
Michael Martin, speaker of the House of Commons, said he had suspended the right of parliamentarians to invite guests into parts of the gallery of the historic debating chamber that are not shielded by a security screen. Further security measures are expected to follow a more detailed review by counter-terrorism intelligence service MI5.
