Government faces down criticisms of Middle East policies

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have faced down unprecedented criticisms of the government's Middle East policies from over 50 senior foreign diplomats.

In the open letter to the Prime Minister, the 52 senior diplomats, some of whom had served as British Ambassadors in the Middle East, were highly critical of the UK-backed policies of the US in the Middle East which they described as "doomed".

But Mr Blair, speaking after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, described the cautionary letter as the opinion of "private citizens" who did not fully understand the complexity of the situations in Iraq and between the Arab Israeli factions.

Mr Blair added that he thought whether people were for or against the conflict there was only one side to be on and that was "the side of the Iraqi people in their journey towards democracy".

The letter from the senior civil servants called for the government to exert more influence on US policy or abandon support for the policies that were doomed to failure.

However, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in an interview for BBC Radio 2, said that it was very important for the government to "work with the United States" and said that attempts to polarise affairs between Washington and London would only serve "to weaken our influence and weaken the influence of Europe".

Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Sir Menzies Campbell said that the Prime Minister would be "well advised" to respond in a grown-up fashion".

Conservative leader Michael Howard said that the views expressed in the letter had to be treated seriously. He said the letter raised serious questions that deserved serious answers from government.

Mr Blair is expected to face tough questions today on the letter and the concerns of 108 MPs, 87 of them Labour, who have backed a Commons motion expressing strong concern over the endorsement by US President George Bush of Israeli plans.

(SP)