British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday condemned the beheading of an American hostage in Iraq as barbaric and unjustified. ?This was a truly barbaric act and there is no justification for this kind of act in a civilised world?, Blair?s official spokesman said of the death of Nick Berg, killed in supposed reprisal for abuses of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.

Berg, a 26-year-old civilian, may have been killed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to a Web site video purportedly showing Berg?s last moments.

Blair?s spokesman also said the prime minister rejected any attempts to divide London and Washington over the growing prisoner abuse scandal. ?We are not going to allow people to try and drive divisions between us and our allies. Our goal is the same: to create an Iraq in which Iraqis govern themselves. It is obvious that there is a desire ? reflected in the media ? to try and drive divisions between us and the U.S. and that is not going to be allowed to happen,? the spokesman added.

He said Blair believes British troops ?have shown remarkable restraint, remarkable discipline? in Iraq and that any allegations of abuse against U.K. soldiers are investigated. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, vehemently condemned the treatment of Iraqi prisoners in the U.S.-led run Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad,on Tuesday.

Concerning the abuse of prisoners in Iraq by British troops, Tony Blair rejected suggestions of a cover-up but his political opponents said yesterday the government?s handling of the issue beggared belief. As the abuse scandal engulfed both British and American governments, Blair used his weekly question-time in parliament to go on the attack.

?There is no evidence whatever either of systematic abuse or of ministers or anyone else refusing to act on allegations of abuse in respect of detainees in British custody?, Blair said. He defended his government?s response to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) into abuse of prisoners, which was passed to British officials in February.

Blair said he had only seen the ICRC report on Monday this week, an admission the opposition Conservative Party ? seeking to exploit what are perilous times for the prime minister ? seized on as incredible. Blair said the cases of prisoner abuse in the ICRC report dealing with UK soldiers were already under investigation, so officials had not passed the report onto ministers. But that answer was not enough for the Conservatives. ?The prime minister has failed to give any explanation for why he did not see this crucial report, which was presented to his special envoy to Iraq, for nearly three months,? said Conservative leader Michael Howard. ?How can the people of this country have confidence in the prime minister and his government?? he asked.

A separate dossier from human rights group Amnesty International this week has added to Blair?s troubles. It accused UK troops of killing Iraqi civilians, including an eight-year-old girl, when they posed no apparent threat.

The Red Cross report, which was leaked to a U.S. newspaper, described British troops stamping on the necks of Iraqi prisoners in an incident in which one captive died, and said some Americans meted out abuse ?tantamount to torture?. The U.S. Congress was due later on Wednesday to view another set of harrowing images of American troops abusing Iraqis.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned the new pictures could make the scandal even more devastating.

Allegations against UK troops pale in comparison, but the political damage to Blair is being done. A poll on Tuesday put support for Labour at 32 percent ? a 17-year low. Blair?s traditionally anti-war Labour Party is increasingly fractious, with some now pondering a post-Blair era with finance minister Gordon Brown in charge. ?We were worried about Iraq but we never imagined it would be as bad as this,? one Labour MP said. ?It couldn?t be any worse. Iraq blots out everything else.?