Blair outlines UK's Iraq stance
Tony Blair will give evidence to the Iraq study group
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Tuesday, 14, Nov 2006 01:14
Tony Blair has today given evidence to an US panel which is considering what Washington's future strategy should be in Iraq.
It is unclear what the prime minister told the Iraq study group when he addressed them in a closed door session via video link, but Downing Street said beforehand that Mr Blair would ensure the panel was "fully briefed on UK ideas".
Mr Blair may have used the session to repeat his call made last night for Iran and Syria to cooperate with efforts to stem growing violence in Iraq and achieve peace in the Middle East.
In a speech to the lord mayor's banquet at London's Guildhall, the prime minister raised the prospect of a new partnership with Tehran and Damascus, while stressing that the two countries would need to change.
Mr Blair said that Iran, previously dubbed by US president George Bush as an "axis of evil" state alongside Iraq and North Korea, had a "clear strategic choice" and could either stop supporting terrorism and flouting international obligations regarding its nuclear programme, or else face isolation in the world.
"We offer Iran a clear strategic choice. They help the Middle East peace process, not hinder it. They stop supporting terrorism in Lebanon or Iraq. They abide by, not flout, their international obligations," said the prime minister.
"In that case, a new partnership is possible. Or alternatively, they face the consequence of not doing so - isolation," he warned.
But while members of Iraq's study group are believed to be in favour of renewing links with Iran and Syria, president Bush yesterday remained cautious about the prospect of co-operating with the two states, stressing that Tehran must halt its nuclear activities and that Damascus must cease its involvement in Lebanon before talks could begin.
Speaking following a meeting with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in Washington, Mr Bush, who also addressed the study group yesterday, called for the "economic isolation" of Iran if it continued its uranium enrichment programme in defiance of the international community.
"I recognise the threat to world peace that the Iranians pose, as does the [Israeli] prime minister," Mr Bush told reporters.
Meanwhile, despite anticipation of a shift in US policy towards Iraq, which proved to be a decisive factor in last week's midterm elections, when Mr Bush's Republican party lost control of both houses of Congress to the Democrats, the president also stressed his opposition to the establishment of a timetable to withdraw US troops from the region.
Asked earlier by the Iraq study group about calls from some Democrats for a phased reduction of troops in order to encourage the Iraqi government to assume increased responsibility for security in the regions, Mr Bush said: "I believe it is very important ... for people making suggestions to recognise that the best military options depend upon the conditions on the ground."
The US and the UK have both come under increasing pressure to review their military strategies in Iraq in the face of growing insurgency and sectarian violence since coalition forces invaded the country in 2003.
Mr Blair's evidence to the Iraq study group comes as the Ministry of Defence is expected to release the names of four British soldiers who were killed when their patrol boat was hit by an explosive device in southern Iraq on Remembrance Sunday.