US President George Bush yesterday arrived in Britain insisting that he had done "the right thing" in overthrowing Saddam Hussein.

At the start of what is almost certainly his final visit to the UK as President, Mr Bush said that he was "sorry" that innocent civilians had died in Iraq but insisted that the country was now on the road to peace.

In an interview with Sky News, the President also played down reports of a rift with Gordon Brown over troop withdrawals from Iraq.

However, he appeared to indicate they had in the past failed to communicate prop-erly over their military plans.

Mr Bush's arrival in London was greeted by 2,000 anti-war demonstrators gathered in Parliament Square.

As the American leader met with Gordon Brown in Whitehall, demonstrators shouted: "George Bush: terrorist," and brandished placards emblazoned with his name, blood patches and handcuffs. But Mr Bush was unrepentant about his decision to invade Iraq.

"When anybody dies in a war, of course it weighs on my conscience. On the other hand, getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do and I'm not going to back off one inch on that," he said.

"The world is better off without him and I'm sorry innocent civilians died in Iraq but I want you to remember, hundreds of thousands died when Saddam Hussein was leading that country.

"War is brutal, I wish we didn't have war, but I believe we're now on the way to peace."

Mr Bush played down suggestions he was worried that Britain would pull out its forces prematurely, after a report last week that Mr Brown could announce plans for the UK's final withdrawal before the end of the year.

However, he appeared to indicate that he and Mr Brown had not always seen eye-to-eye on the issue, while pointing out that Britain still had more than 4,000 troops in the country having previously announced plans to cut the numbers to 2,500.

"I am really appreciative of the relationship I have with Gordon Brown and partic-ularly on this issue," he said.

"The worst thing allies can do is not communicate about our plan and our desires. We all want to take troops out of Iraq and we are."