Gordon Brown admits 'mistakes' in Iraq

LONDON: Britain's likely next prime minister Gordon Brown admitted on Friday that "mistakes" had been made in Iraq, as he launched his bid to succeed Tony Blair.   

"I accept that mistakes have been made," he said, when asked if he would apologise for the war in Iraq.   

But he insisted that Britain remained committed to ongoing efforts to bring peace to the violence-scarred country.   

"I will be talking to our armed forces, I will be listening to what the government of Iraq say and what people on the ground say over the next few weeks and I will assess what is being said to me," Brown said.   

"We will keep our obligations to the Iraqi people. These are obligations that are part of UN resolutions, they are in support of a democracy.   

"I do think that over the next few months, the emphasis will shift.   

"We've got to concentrate more on political reconciliation in Iraq; we've got to concentrate more on economic development so that people in Iraq, that they feel they've got a stake in the country for the future, and obviously we've got to do more to win the battle of hearts and minds against Al-Qaeda terrorism."   

Brown was answering questions at the launch of his bid to become the leader of Britain's governing Labour Party, and therefore prime minister.