Tony Blair has told reporters he will stay on at Downing Street to "get the job done".

He said he would not be "cutting and running or ducking".

The statement was made in a response to a question at a press conference yesterday in Turkey.

A reporter had asked the prime minister whether he was losing control of his party and the situation in Iraq.

Aides later said his reply was a "double answer to a double question", reports the Telegraph.

The questioning followed the murder of the head of Iraq's Governing Council, another blow to the allies' attempts to proceed with a smooth handover of power in Iraq by June 30.

Blair's officials hinted that up to 9,000 more troops would be deployed to the region to help the process.

However, defence secretary Geoff Hoon refused to confirm this in the Commons yesterday.

A Liberal Democrat motion which called on ministers not to commit more troops unless commanders deemed it necessary to protect the soldiers already there was defeated by 393 votes to 60 yesterday.

In Turkey, the prime minister signed a joint memorandum on the war against terrorism and pledged to help the country in its bid to become a full member of the EU.