At a joint appearance with al-Maliki in the highly fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Blair defended the US-led mission in Iraq, and appealed to Iraqis to support the new government and help it enforce the rule of law "with full force".
"It has been longer and harder than any of us would have wanted it to be, but this is a new beginning and we want to see what you want to see, which is Iraq and the Iraqi people to able to take charge of their own destiny and write the next chapter of Iraqi history themselves," Blair said.
"Iraq has a government elected by its people ... despite all the terrorism and violence the people have spoken and they have elected a government," he said when asked if he thought the invasion Iraq was worth it, and whether it was better off today than it had been under Saddam Hussein.
"The answer to your question 'is it worth it?' is the fact that we are even here having a conversation. We should refuse absolutely to believe that Iraqis are not entitled to the same rights and same freedoms as people throughout the world."
Prince Harry to begin training for Iraq
"The important thing is that for the first time we have a government of national unity that crosses all boundaries and divides, that is there for a four-year term and that it's directly elected by the votes of millions of Iraqi people," Blair said. "There is now no vestige of excuse for anyone to carry on with terrorism or bloodshed."
Sidestepping questions on when the coalition forces would withdraw from Iraq, he said: "If the worry of people is the presence of the multinational forces, it is the violence that keeps us here. It is the peace that allows us to go."
Al-Maliki agreed, saying "I can say that Iraq is better off than it was during the dictatorship. Iraq is a free country now. The image of Iraq is not what we would want it to be but we are working to change that... if we can defeat terrorism Iraq will be a better place."
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Blair, who flew in unannounced by helicopter from Kuwait, is also expected to meet President Jalal Talabani and speaker Mahmoud al-Mishihdani later today.
The new Iraqi Cabinet was approved May 20 after months of debate following the elections last December.
While pledging to use maximum force against terrorists, Al Maliki admitted that "we cannot confront terrorism only by using force. We need other measures besides security. We need national reconciliation. Weapons should only be allowed in the hands of the government. Militias, death squads, terrorism, killings and assassinations are anomalies and we should put an end to the militias."
