Blair Welcomes 'Alliance Of Civilisations' Plan

Blair Welcomes 'Alliance Of Civilisations' Plan

Prime Minister Tony Blair today welcomed a proposal from the Spanish Government for an 'alliance of civilisations' to combat the scourge of terrorism.

Mr Blair said he could see potential in the proposal for an alliance of Muslim and non-Muslim countries to tackle the problem. He spoke following talks at 10 Downing Street with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero.

The Prime Minister said:

"We discussed the proposal that the Spanish Prime Minister has made for what he calls an alliance of civilisations, which is the idea that we join together, our countries with Muslim countries.

"Turkey is particularly involved in this - to form a coalition of civilised people from whatever race or religion to combat the barbarity of terrorism."

"I think this is a proposal with possibilities in it that we can develop over the months to come."

Mr Blair said his lunchtime discussions with the Spanish Prime Minister covered a range of security issues.

The Prime Minister held talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, earlier in the day.

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