LONDON, Nov 26: Stopping short of a full apology Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed deep sorrow over Britain's role in the slave trade nearly 200 years after the legislation that led to its abolition.

"I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was -- how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition -- but also to express our deep sorrow that it ever could have happened," British media quoted Blair as saying on Sunday in a statement due to appear in New Nation, a newspaper aimed at the black community.

Blair will also back a United Nations resolution by Caribbean countries to honour those who died at the hands of international slave traders, the Observer said.

The issue has come to a head in the build-up to next March's bicentenary of the Slave Trade Act. An advisory committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has been planning the commemorations, including a solution to how Britain should acknowledge its historic responsibility.

“It is hard to believe what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time,” Blair said in the statement.

According to notes recently made available to media by Baroness Amos, the Leader of the House of Lords, the British Prime Minister wanted to make a bold gesture that would be “internationally recognised,” and back a United Nations resolution by Caribbean countries to honour those who died at the hands of slave traders.

Blair has been under pressure to make a gesture in the run-up to the bicentenary in March of the Slave Trade Act that abolished slavery in the British Empire. Up to 28 million Africans were sent to the Americas and sold into slavery between 1450 and the early 19th century. Britain transported more than 300,000 a year in shackles on disease-ridden boats.

John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, sits in the Hull constituency that was represented by the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce. He chairs an advisory committee that has been planning the 200th anniversary commemorations.