The British Prime Minister has said that the West is in danger of losing a propaganda battle for Arab and Muslim support against Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, a Saudi-owned newspaper is reporting that Saudi Arabia has asked Tony Blair to cancel his visit to the kingdom.
Mr Blair has returned to Britain following a three-day diplomatic tour of Cairo, Oman and Geneva. British officials said that “discussions” were held with Saudi Arabia but the leaders of the two countries could not commit a full day to meet. While Saudi Arabia condemned the attacks on the United States it has put forward no public stance on the allied bombings on Afghanistan.
Speaking on his plane from Oman, Tony Blair told reporters that there is a need to communicate effectively. "One thing becoming increasingly clear to me is the need to upgrade our media and public opinion operations in the Arab and Muslim world," he said. He added that Middle East peace was essential to defusing tension following the attacks on the US.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian President has said that there will be no safety on the planet until the Middle East problem is settled. Hosni Mubarak was speaking following talks with the British Prime Minister in Cairo.
Mr Blair gave Arab allies an assurance that the current military campaign would not extend beyond Afghanistan without full consultation with the coalition partners.
In Egypt, thousands of students there have been taking to the streets in protest at the strikes on Afghanistan. President Mubarak is a supporter of the US and Britain, but has problems of his own with Islamic fundamentalists within Egypt. Islamic Jihad, in particular, has links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organisation.
He wants western help dealing with fundamentalism, but risks sparking further more serious unrest by associating himself with Mr Blair's campaign against Afghanistan.
