"However long it takes to win. However long it takes to achieve our objective. However long it takes," Bush told a joint press conference with Blair after their first meeting at the presidential retreat Camp David since the war started last week.

"It's not a matter of timetable, it's a matter of victory," Bush said.

The British prime minister made similar remarks when asked how long the campaign will last. "It's not set by time, it's set by the nature of the job," Blair said.

Blair said US-led military operations have achieved "a massive amount" in the week since they started.

Both the leaders also urged the United Nations to restart the oil-for-food program in Iraq immediately.

"This urgent humanitarian issue must not be politicized. The Security Council should give Secretary-General Kofi Annan the authority to start getting food supplies to those most in need of assistance," Bush said.

The oil-for-food program, which started in 1996, was suspended last week after the war broke out. The program uses Iraqi oil revenues to pay for food, medicine and other civilian goods to ease the impact of sanctions imposed in August 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that he is confident that the UN Security Council will reach an agreement on adjusting the humanitarian oil-for-food program.

"On the oil-for-food program, I'm confident that the (council) members will find a solution," he told reporters upon his arrival at the UN headquarters in New York.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2003)