Britain's newspapers have expressed shock at Tony Blair's defiant insistence he had no regrets about removing Saddam Hussein, blasting what they saw as the former prime minister's blind self-belief.

But commentators also showed grudging respect for his assured performance, conceding it would have been near impossible to force an admission of guilt from the man who took Britain into the divisive Iraq war in 2003.

Despite getting off to a nervous start at the London hearing on Friday, said the Guardian, Mr Blair quickly returned to his confident old self and the panel was soon "listening mute to a seminar on neoconservatism for slow learners."

The paper said he was handed an "invitation to humility" when asked if he had any regrets.

"Blair blew it, spoiling a near faultless performance," lamented the daily.

"For an audience which he knew included bereaved families it was too much. The room lost its self-control in boos and tears."

The Independent said that he "finished with the only clear lie of the day. He had no regrets. That can't be true. Too many dead for zero regrets, surely."

The press attacks came after Mr Blair, making a long-awaited appearance at the public inquiry, said he accepted "responsibility but not a regret for removing Saddam."

As he left the hearing, there were shouts of "liar" and "you're a murderer" from the public gallery, where some of the relatives of the 179 British troops killed in Iraq watched his appearance.

Almost seven years after the invasion and six months after British troops left Iraq, Mr Blair's decision to go to war remains highly controversial, and hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the inquiry venue.

The Times, which ran a front-page story headlined Unrepentant, unforgiven, Blair says 'I'd do it again', said the former prime minister's stance demonstrated his belief "that all bad people are on the same side."

"He believes that the Universe is best understood as an eternal struggle between the forces of good and evil, in contention for dominance," said the paper.

"For Mr Blair at least 'Axis of Evil' was not just a Bushite soundbite," it added.

Most observers, however, were forced to admit that Mr Blair gave a typically self-assured performance.

"Whatever one thinks of Tony Blair, he is a brilliant performer," noted the Telegraph.

It added the hearing ended "with few of us any the wiser about what happened to take Britain to war with Iraq in 2003, and Mr Blair coming out not even bloodied, let alone bowed."

"He was annoying, consummate and as hard to nail down as a jellyfish - but then, he always was," commented the London Evening Standard.

There was also criticism directed at the inquiry's panel, with some claiming their weak questioning let Mr Blair take control of the hearing.

"The slow-footed panel danced to his tune," said the Guardian, adding that "much of the questioning was dire."

The Times pointed to the "distinctly lukewarm questioning."

-AFP