BRITAIN: British prime minister Tony Blair hardened his defence of Israel's actions yesterday in the face of allegations from the Liberal Democrats, and some Labour backbenchers, that Israel was involved in an unacceptable and systematic destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure.
In a House of Commons statement, Mr Blair also suggested that Iran was not merely funding, but arming Hizbullah with weapons similar to those used against British troops in Basra.
He also swung behind the US position that Israel need not end the bombing of Lebanon until Hizbullah handed over captured prisoners and ended its rocket attacks. He admitted that hopes of peace were "disintegrating", but blamed "those who cannot see that terrorism is not the route to a solution, but a malign fundamental obstacle to it".
Putting the battle on the Lebanese border in a wider context, he said: "We need to recognise the fundamental nature of the struggle in the region which has far-reaching consequences far beyond the region and even in countries like our own.
All over the Middle East there are those who want to modernise their nations, who believe as we do in democracy and liberty and tolerance. But ranged against them are extremists who believe the opposite, who believe in fundamentalist states and war not against Israel's actions, but against its existence."