Mr Tony Blair intervened to rescue his Foreign Secretary from a full-scale diplomatic row and to secure last night's meeting between Mr Jack Straw and the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon.
The row - provoked by Mr Straw's reference to "Palestine" and his suggestion in the Iranian press that anger over the Palestinian situation had helped "breed terrorism" - threatened to overshadow Mr Straw's coalition-building diplomacy in the Middle East. At one stage yesterday an angry Mr Sharon pulled out of his scheduled meeting with Mr Straw. However, the Israeli leader grudgingly agreed to go ahead with the meeting after a fifteen minute telephone conversation with Mr Blair, described by a Number 10 spokesman as "genuinely warm".
Despite that decision the Israeli government made clear its deep anger at Mr Straw's comments, which the Transport Minister, Mr Ephraim Sneh, branded an "obscenity". Mr Straw's comments compounded rising Israeli anger at his decision to visit Iran.
The Israeli President, Mr Moshe Katsav, cancelled a planned meeting with Mr Straw, while the country's Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres - while proceeding with their planned meeting - cancelled a dinner he was to have hosted in Mr Straw's honour.
Mr Sharon's office said he had expressed the "outrage and disappointment" felt in Israel during his conversation with Mr Blair. However, when pressed on the issue, Mr Blair insisted "there was never any question of an apology being asked for at all". Mr Blair said he was particularly pleased with Mr Sharon's confirmation that the delayed meeting between Mr Peres and Mr Yasser Arafat would be going ahead.
Mr Blair warned Afghanistan's Taliban regime they would become the enemies of Britain if they did not comply with the "ultimatum" delivered to them by President Bush.
If the Taliban regime refused to hand-over Osama bin Laden, said Mr Blair, "then our enemy's friend also becomes our enemy too". With military action imminent next week's Labour's Party conference is to be curtailed, and parliament recalled for a one-day session tomorrow week.
During his visit to Iran Mr Straw said Britain would show Tehran evidence about the attacks on the US. He added after talks with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mr Kamal Kharrazi, that Britain was seeking "advice from Tehran about neighbouring Afghanistan".
"We discussed the approach needed to deal with terrorism and the need to reduce the environment in which terrorists operate." Mr Straw said.
--(Additional reporting by Reuters)