Western countries are in danger of losing a propaganda battle for Arab and Muslim support for their "war on terrorism", according to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
His claim follows a newspaper report claiming Saudi Arabia had asked the British leader, on a tour of the Middle East, to cancel a planned visit to the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Sir Michael Boyce, Britain’s chief of the defence staff, told a news conference that the attacks on Afghanistan are likely to continue well into next year.
"We must expect at least to go through the winter into next summer at the very least," Sir Michael said.
"With Winter coming on in November things will slow down a bit, although action can obviously still continue and will continue until such time as we achieve our goals," he added.
Meanwhile, British officials acknowledged having "discussions" about adding Saudi Arabia to a trip that included stops in Oman and Egypt but said Mr Blair and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah simply could not set aside the full day required to meet.
Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks that killed more than 5,500 people in the United States a month ago but has taken no stand publicly on the US and British retaliatory strikes against Afghanistan.
Mr Blair said the West had to put the case for its attacks on Afghanistan more actively. He said there was a need to put fresh momentum into stalled Middle East peace talks to counter widespread Arab feeling that the West had abandoned the Palestinians.
"One thing becoming increasingly clear to me is the need to upgrade our media and public opinion operations in the Arab and Muslim world," Mr Blair told reporters on his plane from Oman. "There is a need for us to communicate effectively."
Blair has met Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Oman's Sultan Qaboos and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan al-Nahayan on a two-day trip to try to shore up Arab support for the fragile U.S.-led coalition.
He has taken his battle for Arab opinion to Arabic satellite television, giving a series of interviews to rebut bin Laden's video statement after the launch of U.S. strikes on his al Qaeda organization. He also wrote an opinion piece in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Thursday.
A senior aide to Blair conceded that the Saudi-born militant's broadcast, in which bin Laden portrayed himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause against the West, had found a receptive audience in the Middle East.
"All the moderate, sensible parts of Arab opinion know it's right that we're taking action in Afghanistan and support that," Blair said.
"But they point out that they have a genuine problem with their own people, who believe we have lost interest in the Middle East peace process. It's a perception we must contest."
SPEAKS TO ARAFAT
Blair said he had spoken by phone to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and agreed on the need to restart the process, stalled after a year-long Palestinian uprising for independence in which hundreds of people, mainly Palestinians, have died.
He said he had discussed the Middle East with President Bush and both men "were completely seized of the need to push (peace talks) forward."
Mubarak drove home the urgency of reviving the talks, saying that unless a comprehensive peace accord was reached "there will be no safety on our planet in the future."
He told a news conference there was an urgent need to address the conflict "which could be used by terrorists who seek to utilize prevailing feelings of frustration and despair in the Arab and Islamic world to justify terrorist activities."
Blair told reporters flying with him that bin Laden's mission "is actually about power rather than simply beliefs."
"The power he wants is to put Taliban-type regimes in each of the main Arab countries. When people in those countries think about it, it fills them with horror," he said.
Blair said air strikes alone would not win the U.S.-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan. He declined to say whether ground troops would be used but said extra measures would be needed to back up the air campaign.
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