Blair to visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday

British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in Cairo tomorrow in his first stop on his visit to the Middle East, which will also include Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, during which talks will concentrate mainly on the stalemated peace process, Europe's role in the region and bilateral interests.

In an interview with the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper, Prime Minister Blair, who chairs the European Union, expressed concern over the lack of progress in the peace process and that the spirit of Madrid and Oslo has evaporated. Blair expressed interest in greater European role commensurate with the economic aid it provides and the historical relationship Europe has had in the Middle East.

On Lebanon, Blair said that Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon should be in accordance with UN resolutions, meaning unconditional withdrawal.

Blair told Al-Ahram that Britain will not be a base for terrorism referring to Egyptian expressed concerns about Islamist extremists residing in Britain, and said the recent denial of visas to some Egyptians were because of this concern.

Commenting on previous British claims that Iraq was going to smuggle anthrax-contaminated products to Britain, the Prime Minister acknowledged that these were precautionary measures that were not based on any actual evidence of smuggling.

Blair expressed guarded optimism to Al-Ahram and said that blame will not help the process of peace when asked about Israeli intransigent policies, and Israeli reactions to his foreign minister's recent visit to Israel that was ill-received by Israelis due to a visit by the foreign minister to a Jewish settlement construction site.