British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to Baghdad in an attempt to support Iraq’s elections Tuesday. He conducted talks with the interim prime minister Ayad Allawi and electoral officials.

‘‘Whatever people’s feelings and beliefs about the removal of Saddam Hussein, and the wisdom of that, there surely is only one side to be on in what is now very clearly a battle between democracy and terror,’’ Blair told a joint press conference with Allawi.

Blair spoke about his meeting with representatives of the election commission — three of whom were dragged from their car and killed by insurgents in Baghdad this week.

‘‘I said to them that I thought they were the heroes of the new Iraq that’s being created, because here are people who are risking their lives every day to make sure that the people of Iraq get a chance to decide their own destiny,’’ Blair said.

‘‘We know things are difficult with the security situation, but our desire is to help because we think the possibilities for Iraq are tremendous,’’ Blair added.

Allawi reiterated his commitment to holding elections as planned despite the calls for postponement amid surges of violence.

"We have always expected that the violence would increase as we approach the elections," Allawi said. "We now are on the verge, for the first time in history, of having democracy in action in this country."

Blair, a fervent supporter of US-led intervention of Iraq, visited the country for the first time since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Britain now has about 9,800 troops deployed in Iraq, mostly in the vicinity of Basra.