Blair backs Cook's handling of Abu Ghneim visit

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday backed his Foreign Minister's handling of a visit to the site of a disputed Israeli settlement at Abu Ghneim mountain and said he would go ahead with his own trip to the Middle East next month.

Asked if Blair backed Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. whose visit to Israel turned into a spectacular row on Tuesday, the Prime Minister's spokesman replied: "Totally."

Asked if Blair's planned visit to the region on behalf of the European Union would go ahead in mid-April, he replied: "I have no doubt at all that the Prime Minister's trip will be going ahead. It has been in the planning for some time."

Blair and Cook spoke by telephone last night to discuss what happened after Cook visited the Jabal Abu Ghneim settlement site outside occupied Jerusalem, "It was an opportunity for the Prime Minister to convey his support for the Foreign Secretary," Blair's spokesman said, denying that Cook had departed from the arrangements for the visit.