Moore turns his 9/11 film heat on Blair PM's alliance with Bush 'an embarrassment for Britain'

Moore said Mr Blair's alliance with Mr Bush was an embarrassment for Britain. ''What has also sort of depressed me about Tony Blair is he knows better,'' the Oscar-winning film-maker said.

''The one thing you can say about Blair is that he's smart. What is he doing hanging out with this guy? They make the weirdest couple I've ever seen.

''I know he misses his old buddy, Bill Clinton - but to settle for this? Brits, aren't you embarrassed?''

Moore added that Mr Blair was ''let off lightly'' in the film - which was greeted with cheers and clapping after its premiere - because he wanted to concentrate his attack on Mr Bush.

Indeed, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sustained and savage critique of the Mr Bush government.

It caused controversy even before its release when Disney barred Miramax, the producers of the film, from releasing the radically political work in the US election year.

''I hope it comes out in America this year,'' said Moore. ''I do think it is important to care at times like this. This time I was the straight man and Mr Bush wrote the funniest lines - the fish rots from the head down.''

Fahrenheit 9/11 focuses on ties between the Mr Bush family and prominent Saudis, including the family of Osama bin Laden, and on whether those ties clouded the president's judgment before and after the September 11 attacks.

The film also attacks the war in Iraq, arguing that the war is victimising not only Iraqis but also the poor, enlisted Americans who are fighting in it.

It shows graphic battle injuries and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

The film takes its title from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, which refers to the temperature at which books burn. Moore calls Fahrenheit 9/11 the ''temperature at which freedom burns''.

He has already accused the US government of attempting to stop the film being released.

The director told an audience in Cannes that Mr Bush feared the film would affect his chances of re-election in November.

Moore - who cried, ''Shame on you, Mr Bush'' as he received his Oscar in 2002 for Bowling for Columbine - said that ''someone connected to the White House, a top Republican'' has put pressure on film companies not to release the film.

''The potential for this film to have an impact on the election was much larger than they thought - it is something the Bush administration does not want people to see,'' he said.

However, Moore added: ''I hope it just influences people to leave the theatre and become good citizens. I'll leave it to others to decide what kind of impact it's going to have on the election.''

In the film, Moore uses a pop song for satiric effect. Shots are shown of members of the bin Laden family being hastily flown out of the United States after the September 11 attacks, accompanied by the Animals' 1965 hit single We Gotta Get Out of This Place.

In a segment of film on the streets of Washington, Moore goes on a recruiting drive - he stops congressmen in the street and asks them to send their own children to war in Iraq.

The film also shows businessmen looking for contracts in postwar Iraq. One executive says: ''Unfortunately, at least for the near term, we think it is going to be a good situation . . . good for business, bad for the people.''

In an emotional moment, Moore talks with Lila Lipscomb as she reads the final letter from her son, Michael Pedersen, who was killed in action in Iraq.

Her patriotism turned to bitterness against the government, Lipscomb visits the White House and says: ''I finally have a place to put all my pain and anger.''

For all his criticism of Mr Bush, Moore said he would still like to visit the White House himself.

''I would love to have a White House screening of this film,'' Moore said. ''I would attend it. I would behave myself.''