Blair runs into protests, snubs on Lebanon visit

BEIRUT - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on a visit to Beirut marked by protests and snubs, pledged to help strengthen Lebanon's security forces as they deploy in the south after Israel's war with Hizbollah.

About 2,000 Lebanese protested against Blair's visit, accusing him of backing Israel's 34-day war with the Shi'ite Muslim guerrillas, and several ministers refused to meet him.

At a news conference, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asked for Blair's help with postwar reconstruction and in the "empowerment and enhancement of our army and our internal security".

Blair said Britain was ready to provide "training, equipment, any help we can give".

The UN resolution that halted the fighting in Lebanon provided for an expansion of a UNIFIL peacekeeping force to police the south alongside Lebanese army troops.

Al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri, speaking in a video tape aired on Arabic Al Jazeera television, condemned the resolution and blasted the peacekeepers, who will include Muslim troops, as "enemies of Islam".

A UNIFIL spokesman declined to comment on his remarks. He said around 130 Italian troops arrived in Lebanon on Monday and officials at Beirut airport said another 200 French troops landed, which would bring UNIFIL's strength to around 3,500.

China and Russia also said they plan to send peacekeepers.

Siniora urged the British leader to work to revive efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict through the UN Security Council on the basis of an Arab plan that offers Israel peace if it withdraws from Arab land occupied in 1967.

"Only by addressing the underlying causes can we guarantee peace and security for the Middle East," Siniora said.

Blair vowed to use the rest of his time in office seeking Middle East peace. But he has been criticized at home and in Lebanon for his pro-US stance during the Lebanon war and faced a flurry of resignations last week that raised questions over his hold on power. He said he would leave office within a year.

"It is important ... that we do everything we can to re-energize that (peace) process, to give ourselves the best chance of achieving a lasting, comprehensive settlement of that issue with two states living side by side in peace," Blair said.

Lebanese anger

During the war, Blair angered many Lebanese by refusing to call for an early halt to fighting, which wreaked destruction on Lebanon and cost the lives of nearly 1,200 people there, mostly civilians, as well as 157 Israelis, mainly soldiers.

"He was a party in the war," Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh, of the Shi'ite Amal movement, told Reuters. "He supported the US position and did not call for a ceasefire... It is natural that we do not receive him."

Blair defended his wartime stance.

"I could have gone out there and called for it all to stop but it wasn't going to stop until there was a UN resolution that had a framework within which it could stop, in which the real problems could be dealt with," he said.

Blair said Britain would commit over 40 million pounds ($117 million) in aid to Lebanon this year and stood ready to do more.

Troops and riot police kept the demonstrators well away from the government building in downtown Beirut where Siniora met Blair, the first British prime minister to visit Lebanon.

"I'm standing here because Blair is the killer of Lebanese children," said Ibad Malak, a 19-year-old student.

Some protesters held placards reading "Thank you Blair for delivering the intelligent bombs" - referring to US flights carrying bombs for Israel that refueled in Scotland during the war. "Blair you killer, go to hell," read another placard.

- REUTERS