- Title: WEST BANK: Mideast envoy Tony Blair heckled during tour of a West Bank mosque
- Date: 21st October 2009
- Summary: BLAIR WALKS OUT OF MOSQUE - ISRAELI SOLDIERS IN BACKGROUND BLAIR WALKING BLAIR GOING THROUGH BARRIERS SET UP IN THE OLD CITY OF HEBRON AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE MOSQUE BLAIR TOURING OLD CITY OF HEBRON
- Embargoed: 5th November 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Reuters ID: LVA9AB96Q3JHFEZ33YMMQAN4BJ81
- Story Text: Bodyguards subdued a Palestinian man on Tuesday (October 20) as he approached Middle East envoy Tony Blair, shouting "You are a terrorist."
The former British prime minister was verbally assailed while visiting the ancient Ibraheemi Mosque, a location sacred to both Muslims and Jews, during an official trip to the West Bank city of Hebron.
The protester, carrying a bag, was backed into a corner by guards who tried to shut him up. "He is not welcome in the land of Palestine," the struggling man shouted.
Blair, 56, is envoy for the "Quartet" of powers on the Middle East, comprising the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations.
He gave a tight-lipped smile and a pacifying wave in the general direction of the shouting man, and afterwards played down the incident as untypical of local feelings.
"People want to show me what is happening here. He made his protest. That's fair enough. I think it is important for you guys not always to mistake the protest to the general view of the whole population. I think people here actually want to see this issue resolved, and want to see it resolved in a peaceful way, and actually understand that it cannot be resolved unless we find a way of creating two states - state of Israel, state of Palestine - living side by side in peace. Frankly, it's not protest that would do that, but patient negotiations," Blair told reporters.
Blair's Hebron hosts were upset by the security breach. Blair is despised by many Arabs for supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for declining to speak out against Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah, and for what many Palestinians perceive as his bias in favour of Israel when Blair was Britain's prime minister.
Earlier in the day Tony Blair met at length with the governor of Hebron and held a joint news conference.
Blair also toured the Old City area of Hebron. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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