LAKE BALATON, Oct 15: A rift between Britain and Spain over Iraq dominated a summit of centre-left leaders that closed here on Friday, with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero stating the war to topple Saddam Hussein had been a "massive mistake".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair held intensive bilaterals with leaders from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas "about Iraq and international terrorism" at the two-day lakeside summit, his spokesman Ian Gleason said.

Mr Blair called for "realism" and help in post-war Iraq, but was brushed off by Zapatero, who took Madrid through a policy U-turn on Iraq after he was elected in March and withdrew Spanish troops in June, sources close to the summit said.

"Zapatero reiterated that the war in Iraq had been a massive mistake, as evidenced by what is happening there at the moment," a source said. The Spanish leader went on to say that it was vital to act in accordance with international law on Iraq, a Chilean source added.

Several leaders, among them Chile's President Ricardo Lagos and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin supported Zapatero's position while the host, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, noted that "peace in Iraq was the most important thing."

Gyurcsany took office only two weeks ago and faces a decision on whether to withdraw Hungary's 300 troops from Iraq in December when their mandate expires or to seek an extension from parliament, where the opposition argues that the mission is illegitimate because it lacks a UN mandate.

Blair put terrorism squarely on the agenda of the sixth annual summit on progressive governance on Thursday when he said the left had a duty to broaden its agenda to address the root causes of extremism, among them poverty and the conflict in the Middle East.

He urged his counterparts to do so in partnership with the United States, telling them: "I think that any idea that we can build a coherent international agenda on a division between Europe and the US is simply wrong."

The 11 heads of government also mulled problems in Iran, Afghanistan, Haiti and the Korean peninsula, and in their final communique said "international stability and security at home goes hand-in-hand with a strong United Nations".

New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said the Rwanda genocide had forced the left to accept the need for military intervention but added, "the issue is what rules do you put around (it)".

In a plea for multilateralism, Chile's Lagos said states had to act to protect human rights in troubled states in their regions, but should do so under the auspices of the United Nations.

"It is essential that you have rules in order to enforce some decisions," Lagos said, adding that because the Latin-American force in Haiti had a UN mandate "there was legitimacy, at the end there was collective and multi-lateral action."

The summit, held on the shores of Lake Balaton in western Hungary, also mulled how the left could alleviate poverty, ensure economic growth and face off right-wing populism.

"We have these meetings in order to see how we can resolve the problems that we have and do so in order not to leave space for a resurgence of the right," an African source said.

Gyurscany and Blair pleaded for reform of social policies in order to protect the economy and create more jobs in Europe, while Sweden's Prime Minister Goeran Persson, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi pleaded for help for the developing world. -AFP