MPs confront Blair over military tactics and Middle East position

Tony Blair came under fire in the Commons from all parties yesterday as he pledged to "stay the course" on Iraq and called for a fresh effort to kickstart the Middle East peace process.

Tony Blair came under fire in the Commons from all parties yesterday as he pledged to "stay the course" on Iraq and called for a fresh effort to kickstart the Middle East peace process.

He refused to condemn military tactics in Fallujah, in response to a question from Alice Mahon, the Labour left-winger, and rejected calls to follow the lead of the Spanish government and withdraw troops from Iraq. He also argued that the heavily criticised offer by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, to dismantle settlements in Gaza but retain several on the West Bank should be seen as an "important first step" towards a political settlement in the region.

A series of MPs complained that the Israeli move - which was endorsed by the Prime Minister despite claims that he had been kept in the dark by the US about the initiative - made a lasting deal less likely. Alan Duncan, the Tory constitutional affairs spokesman, said: "On what basis do you believe President Bush is entitled to cede Palestinian negotiating positions without their consent? Why do you think unilaterally sanctioning illegal townships bang in the middle of the West Bank is going to do anything other than destroy a viable Palestinian state?"

Richard Burden, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, said the "road-map" to peace was not in the gift of the US and it depended on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from disputed areas. Peter Kilfoyle, a former armed forces minister, said: "Sharon will continue to assassinate with impunity because there is nothing anyone can do to stop it."

Although Mr Blair condemned the "targeted assassination" of the Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi by Israeli forces, he repeated his welcome for the proposed Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank. He said: "Disengagement is not the final step, but an important step on the road to a final statement."

The Prime Minister added: "It is a statement of fact that those final status negotiations, when they come, cannot ignore the reality on the ground, but all issues are to be decided in that negotiation."

On Iraq, he clashed with the Tory leader, Michael Howard, who complained that Britain did not have a sufficiently weighty diplomatic presence and argued that many details about the proposed transfer of power to an interim Iraqi administration on 30 June had yet to be resolved.

Accusing him of trying to score political points, Mr Blair responded: "What you try to do is to give us a general support and create as much particular mischief as you can."

Mr Blair said most Iraqis wanted a prosperous and democratic Iraq, with international forces staying not a day longer than they had to. "We are on their side against the small minority of those trying to disrupt this vision," he said.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said George Bush "gave the appearance of listening with great courtesy" to Mr Blair, but: "The nagging doubt many of us have on this issue is the extent to which the President is actually choosing to hear what we hope the Prime Minister is trying to get over to him."

Labour's Tam Dalyell said: "Isn't the unpalatable truth that an occupying force is seen more and more as an inspiration, far from curtailing, actually inspires violence? Haven't we reached a situation where many Iraqis have come to regard this as a war of liberation? There are some of us who think Mr Zapatero [the new Spanish Prime Minister] is right and, embarrassing and losing face though it may be, that the coalition forces should be withdrawn."

Mr Blair replied: "If we were to withdraw coalition troops now and leave Iraq to the mercy of militias or insurgents or outside terrorists, then the losers would not just be the whole of the Middle East, the whole of the world actually; the losers most of all would be the Iraqi people."