Causes of Lebanon conflict must be tackled - Blair

Causes of Lebanon conflict must be "tackled urgently" says PM
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/page9959.asp?fq=d&tp=n&dt=20060803

3 August 2006

Tony Blair

The underlying causes of the Lebanon conflict must be "tackled urgently", Tony Blair has said in a newspaper article.

Writing in today's Daily Mirror, Mr Blair said that he and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett had been doing all they could to halt hostilities.

* Mirror article in full (opens in new window)

He reiterated the point that there is an "arc of extremism" in the Middle East that can only be tackled by an "alliance of moderation" where Muslims, Jews and Christians can live together in peace.

"To my mind, the most important thing is to show that the values we hold dear are the best ones.

"This means pushing further to make progress on poverty, climate change, unfair trade deals and, above all, doing everything we can to secure a Palestinian state alongside a safe Israel."

This would discredit the fanatics' claim that "democracy is worthless", said Mr Blair.

ENDS

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