Blair condemns 'POWs and dead' footage

Britain's Mr Tony Blair has condemned Arab television broadcast pictures showing what appeared to be dead and captured British…

Britain's Mr Tony Blair has condemned Arab television broadcast pictures showing what appeared to be dead and captured British soldiers.

Mr Blair's official spokesman told reporters he was appalled after Qatar-based al-Jazeera television broadcast images of two men it identified as British prisoners of war and showed the bodies of two others it said were killed in action.

"We were aware of the possibility of this when we were on the plane and when we touched down we were told about the pictures," said Mr Blair's spokesman, who flew into Washington then headed for the Camp David retreat in Maryland where Mr Blair is meeting President Bush.

The two bodies are believed to be those of two British soldiers who went missing during an Iraqi ambush on Sunday. But the Ministry of Defence in London declined to comment, saying the footage was being studied.