AL QAEDA
"We've routed (al Qaeda) in Iraq," Bush told Sky News television on Sunday, presenting one of the cases why he sees the U.S.-led military operation as vital. "That's not to say that they're not still dangerous or want to come back."
Bush has a more formal relationship with Brown than he had with Tony Blair, Washington's staunchest supporter over the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
White House officials said Iran's defiance over its nuclear programme was likely to figure more prominently than Iraq during Monday's talks between Bush and Brown.
With much of Europe still smarting over the Iraq war, Bush has spent a lot of his week-long trip building opposition to Iran's uranium enrichment activities, which the West suspects could be employed to build nuclear bombs.
On Saturday, Iran - which says its nuclear programme is solely for power generation - again ruled out suspending uranium enrichment despite a package of incentives put forward by six world powers.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said at the weekend he expected a formal reply soon from Iran on the incentives package, but senior Iranian member of parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Tehran was in no hurry.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have all offered Bush support for efforts to prevent Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, obtaining nuclear weapons.
The three U.N. sanctions resolutions imposed so far on Iran have been relatively limited in scope - including targeting individuals, some firms with military links and several banks.
Flush with record oil revenues that have helped it withstand such sanctions, Iran has long ruled out ending its quest for its own uranium enrichment industry.
