Lebanon invasion overshadows Iraqi-UK PMs briefing
Lebanon-Israel-UK, Politics, 7/24/2006

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's meeting with his new Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki in London was overtaken Monday by Israel's continuing bombardments of Lebanon.

At a joint press conference in London, Blair was forced to defend criticisms of his government's support for Israel, while escaping any questions about the continuing carnage in Iraq.

What was happening in Lebanon was a 'catastrophe', he admitted but insisted that Israeli civilians had been killed too.

"It will not stop on both sides unless there is a plan to make it stop and that's what we are working on urgently, as we speak," said the British premier facing accusations of failing to call for a ceasefire since Israel started its incessant bombings 12 days ago.

He said that 'every diplomatic effort' was being used but added that a cessation could not happen until a solution was reached. The reverse argument used by the Iraqi prime minister.

What was needed was not just a short-time plan to secure a ceasefire, but a long-term solution to address the underlying causes, Blair said, identifying the need for a settlement of the Palestinian issue as he has done for the past five years.

His comments came as the leader of the UK's third largest party, the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell called on the British premier to suspend arms exports from the UK to Israel.

"In light of disproportionate military action by Israel in Lebanon and Gaza, the UK Government must suspend any further arms exports to Israel," Campbell said in a letter to Blair.

"The government must now comply with its own arms export rules and institute an immediate suspension of all UK arms exports to Israel," he said.

But questioned about the call at the press conference, Blair simply said that he had 'no comment'.

On Iraq, al-Maliki suggested that foreign troops could leave his country within months rather than year, despite the virtual raging civil war, but neither he nor the British premier were challenged on this.

The New York Times reported yesterday that "The speaker of the Iraqi Parliament criticized the American government’s involvement in Iraq on Saturday, likening the invasion and its consequences to 'the work of butchers' and demanding that the American authorities disentangle themselves from Iraq’s political affairs."

This comes as several analysts on MSNBC noted that Iraq's major leader Ayatollah Sistani has indicated that the situation in Iraq is very bad, and he may go ahead and call on the US to leave Iraq shortly, and if he does, they noted, that would effectively put an end to the US presence in Iraq.

Previous Stories:
  UK Archbishop condemns Israel's destruction of Lebanon   (7/20/2006)
  MPs condemn Blair's failure to insist on Israeli ceasefire   (7/20/2006)
  British Muslims condemn London's silence on Israeli war crimes   (7/18/2006)

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