Middle East: Irish peace activist Caoimhe Butterly interrupted yesterday's press conference in Beirut by accusing Tony Blair of complicity in Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.
As Mr Blair stood beside Lebanon's prime minister, Fouad Siniora, Ms Butterly waved a banner which read "Boycott Israeli Apartheid" and shouted: "This is an insult to the families of thousands of Lebanese who have died. Shame on you, shame on you, Mr Blair."
Her protest was captured by live television cameras until security guards escorted her out of Mr Siniora's office. The two leaders watched in silence, then the Lebanese premier said: "It's all right, we are in a democracy . . . we respect all sorts of expression."
Ms Butterly, a well-known anti-war campaigner, has taken part in many protests, notably in the Palestinian territories and in the Shannon peace camp which protested against the use of the airport by US military planes travelling to and from Iraq.
The Cork woman came to prominence in 2002 when she entered the besieged headquarters of the then Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, and remained trapped there for a number of weeks.
In November 2002 she was shot in the thigh by an Israeli soldier during that army's assault on the Jenin refugee camp, where she was serving as a human shield at the time.
She has also worked in Mexico and Zimbabwe. In 2002 she was included in a list of "European heroes" compiled by Time magazine's European edition.