Blair repeating blunder of supporting Israel's attack on Egypt: MPs

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was warned yesterday that he was repeating Britain's biggest foreign policy blunder in the past 50 years by supporting the Israel's bloodbath in Lebanon.

The all-party Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Underanding (Caabu) equated the premier's support with Britain's unsuccessful invasion of Egypt during the 1956 Suez crisis that eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Anthony Eden.

"With no mandate from Parliament, and probably minimal discussion in Cabinet, Tony Blair has copied the flawed decision of Eden to make Israel a strategic ally," Caabu said.

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, it said Britain had lost its neutrality in the Middle East and the "only ethical position is to stop supplying weapons to either side." "What is the point of aid to Lebanon while colluding in the replenishment of Israel's arsenal, used daily to flatten Lebanon?" Caabu director Chris Doyle asked, following reports that the UK was being sued as a conduit to supply US bombs to Israel.

This week, Britain has been commemorating the 50th anniversary of the ignominy of the Suez crisis, when it was rebuffed by the UN and forced to retreat from its invasion of Egypt in support of Israel.