British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday narrowly survived a vote in the House of Commons tabled by nationalist parties demanding an immediate investigation into the Iraq war.

Lawmakers rejected by 298 votes to 273 - a majority of 25 - a motion put forward by the minority Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties demanding a probe into the handling of the Iraq war and its aftermath by a committee of senior MPs.

Blair has resisted calls for an inquiry, saying that it would be a betrayal of the troops in action in Iraq.

In a heated debate ahead of the vote, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett warned that it was "not the time" for an inquiry into Iraq as the move would send wrong signal to insurgents and undermine British troops' morale.

She urged MPs to remember that "our words ... will be heard a very long way away. They can be heard by our troops who are already in great danger in Iraq".

Beckett declined calls for a commitment to hold an inquiry once British troops had left Iraq.

"It is perfectly sensible and legitimate to say that there will come a time when these issues will be explored in the round and in full so that we can learn whatever lessons we can from them," Beckett said.

Currently, Britain has some 7,200 troops in southern Iraq, most in the Basra area and about 800 in Maysan province. And the death toll of British troops in Iraq has risen to 120 since March 2003.

Source: Xinhua