President Bush met families of British servicemen killed in Iraq yesterday.

After laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey, the American leader spent 30 minutes with 19 relatives of some of the 52 soldiers killed during the war and its aftermath.

Afterwards, Laura Bush said: "We went to comfort them but they really ended up comforting us. Most of them said, 'stay the course'."

The president was also urged at an HIV/Aids policy meeting to collaborate with other donors to fight the virus in poor countries.

He was warned at a Downing Street meeting with NGOs and health advisors of the risks of duplicating work already being done by others.