Blair promises to help rebuild Lebanon

Middle East: British prime minister Tony Blair yesterday pledged to help rebuild Lebanon's infrastructure, which was devastated by Israeli bombardment during its 34-day offensive against Hizbullah.

At the end of the first ever visit to Lebanon by a British premier, Mr Blair said that Britain would donate £22.3 million (€32.7 million) for the rebuilding effort and £20 million (€29.3 million) for the expanded UN force in Lebanon.

He urged his Lebanese counterpart, Fouad Siniora, to fully implement UN Security Council resolution 1701 which calls for Hizbullah to be disarmed.

Mr Siniora called on Britain to assist Lebanon in training its army and internal security forces and to "play a positive role" in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of an Arab plan which offers peace to Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from all land occupied in 1967.

Although Mr Blair has promised to use his remaining months in office to pursue regional peace, few observers believe that he can persuade Israel to accept the Arab plan, which was originally tabled in 2002.

As the two men were meeting at the Ottoman-era Serai, the seat of government located at the heart of Beirut, 2,000 demonstrators protested against Mr Blair's presence. "The devil is America, Blair is the devil's dog," chanted the crowd.

Irish anti-war campaigner Caoimhe Butterly disrupted a joint news conference by the two premiers and was removed by security officers.

Some demonstrators bore placards saying: "Blair, go home. We don't want you here." Others waved Lebanese flags and portraits of the Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Mr Blair infuriated most Lebanese when, at the outset of Israel's land, sea and aerial blitz, he joined US president George Bush in refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Mr Siniora and foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh, who is close to Hizbullah, greeted Mr Blair at the airport, but the parliamentary speaker, Nabih Berri, another Hizbullah ally who was expected to meet the British leader, was in Tehran. The movement's two ministers refused to take part in the cabinet's encounter with Mr Blair.

On the eve of the visit, Ayatollah Hussein Fadhlallah, Lebanon's senior Shia cleric and Hizbullah's spiritual mentor, described Mr Blair as a "key accomplice in the Israeli-American offensive against Lebanon".

The ayatollah said that Mr Blair "should at least be called to account and not warmly welcomed", and he demanded that he should be declared "persona non grata" for permitting the US to use British airports to ferry arms to Israel during is offensive against Lebanon.

The pro-government daily al-Nahar said that Mr Blair's visit had "heightened tensions between the pro-western parliamentary majority and Hizbullah".

Al-Safir, which takes an anti-western Arab nationalist line, said that the visit was a "political error" which could have been avoided. "It is proof that the government makes bad choices. The man is despised around the world, especially in his own country, for his role in Iraq."

Boosted by what most Lebanese and Arabs see as its victory against Israel in the recent conflict, Hizbullah is pressing for the formation of a national unity government which would reduce the powers of the ruling coalition by installing ministers from two Christian parties allied to the Shia Hizbullah and Amal movements.

The prime minister's spokesman said Mr Blair was convinced his trip had aided progress with negotiations. The premier would return to the region at some point to help "move things on".