Blair -
we must work with 'Axis of Evil' states
By Philip Webster in London and Tom Baldwin is Washington
The first cracks in the united front over Iraq between Tony Blair
and President Bush appeared last night as the Prime Minister
offered Iran and Syria the prospect of dialogue over the future of
Iraq and the Middle East.
Mr Blair said there could be a new partnership with Iran if it
stopped supporting terrorism in Iraq and gave up its nuclear
ambitions. Syria and Iran could choose partnership or isolation, he
said.
The Prime Minister tried to exploit moves in Washington to rethink
strategy on Iraq by holding out the prospect of engagement with two
countries once dubbed by President Bush as part of the axis of
evil. For the first time he also explicitly ruled out military
action against Iran.
And, in words clearly directed at Mr Bush as he prepares for his
final two years in power, Mr Blair called for the United States to
lead a new drive towards peace in the Middle East, including peace
in Palestine and the Lebanon, arguing that ultimately it was the
only way to defeat al-Qaeda.
Downing Street denied suggestions that Mr Blair was going cap in
hand to Damascus and Tehran asking for help and insisted that they
were being told that they had to make a strategic choice between
giving up support for terrorism and nuclear ambitions in return for
being brought in from the cold.
It added that Mr Blair was repeating the message that he first gave
in a speech in Los Angeles in July.
But, with Mr Blair speaking tomorrow to the Iraq Study Group, which
is looking at alternative solutions for Iraq including involving
its neighbours, his speech to the Lord Mayors banquet at Guildhall
this evening was different in tone and suggested that he wants to
capitalise on the new mood in Washington. Mr Bush has been opposed
to talk with Iran.
Mr Blair said that Irans genuine fear that America sought a
military solution was entirely misplaced. It did not, he said
bluntly.
Mr Bush ducked any direct confrontation with Mr Blair, saying that
he had not read the speech. But, in a White House press conference
alongside Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, he gave warning
against cracks appearing in the united front with which the West
has approached Iran.
I think its very important for the world to unite with one common
voice to say to the Iranians that, if you choose to continue
forward, youll be isolated, Mr Bush said.
Although Robert Gates, the new US Defence Secretary, is also among
those who have advocated a more open approach to Iran, Mr Bush said
that the regimes nuclear ambitions were a threat to world peace
and went on to discuss the prospect of economic sanctions against
the regime.
Mr Blair said that the choice for Iran was clear. They help the
Middle East peace process, not hinder it; they stop supporting
terrorism in Lebanon or Iraq and they abide by, not flout, their
international obligations. In that case, a new partnership is
possible. Or, alternatively, they face the consequence of not doing
so: isolation.
The Prime Minister still hopes to persuade the US to engage fully
in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, but frustrated British
diplomats in Washington say that the White House shows no real sign
of being interested in the subject. Mr Bush yesterday said that he
had discussed with Mr Olmert the two-state solution and the need
for the Palestinian government to embrace the principles behind the
road map for the Middle East peace process, but made it clear that
their talks had focused on Iran and Iraq.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Bush met the Iraq Study Group, led by former
Secretary of State James Baker, to discuss its imminent report
charting a possible new course for Iraq. The President said that he
would not pre-judge their findings while his spokesman emphasised
that, despite Democrat control of Congress, Mr Bush remained
commander-in-chief.
Senior Democrats have begun talking openly about the prospect of
bringing troops home within six months, while others have urged the
president to negotiate a diplomatic solution with Iraqs
neighbours.
But Mr Bush also had harsh words for Syria, a country with which,
unlike Iran, the US has diplomatic relations. The President said
that Syria should stop interfering in Lebanon and harbouring
extremists and must begin helping this young democracy in Iraq
succeed.
Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, said
that his country was willing to engage with Britain and
America.