About 2,000 Lebanese protested today at the visit of British prime minister Tony Blair to Beirut, accusing him of backing Israel's 34-day war with Hizbollah, and several cabinet ministers refused to meet him.
Lebanese health minister Mohammad Khalifeh
A woman protester paraded in front of him and Lebanese Premier Fuad Siniora as they staged a joint press conference, waving a banner and shouting:
"This is an insult to the families of thousands of Lebanese who have died. Shame on you, shame on you, Mr Blair."
As security guards bundled her away, both Mr Blair and Mr Siniora gesticulated and appealed for calm.
The lone protest matched that of others in the streets of Beirut, with demonstrators infuriated by Mr Blair's refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire from Israel in the bloody conflict which raged in July.
"He was a party in the war," Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh, of the Shia Muslim Amal movement, said.
"He supported the US position and did not call for a ceasefire...It is natural that we do not receive him."
Mr Blair angered many Lebanese by his refusal to call for an early ceasefire in the conflict which killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Two Hizbollah ministers also declined to attend Mr Blair's talks with the Lebanese government, even though a spokesman for Mr Blair said the British leader had been ready to meet them.
Mr Blair had also been due to meet Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is the leader of Amal and a Hizbollah ally, but an aide to Mr Berri said he had left on a private visit abroad.
Troops, riot police and barbed-wire barriers kept the demonstrators well away from the government building in downtown Beirut where Mr Blair met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
"I'm standing here because Blair is the killer of Lebanese children," said Ibad Malak, a 19-year-old student. Mr Blair, the first British prime minister to visit Lebanon, was discussing with Siniora a UN truce in effect since August 14th and Britain's contribution to postwar reconstruction.
His spokesman said Britain had provided £22.3 million in humanitarian aid and was giving another 20 million pounds to support UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. The British destroyer HMS York is also involved in efforts to patrol Lebanon's coast to enforce a UN arms embargo.
Mr Blair wanted to show his support for Siniora and to discuss the full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution that halted the fighting on August 14th, his spokesman said.
A woman disrupted Tony Blair's press conference in Beirut with Lebanese premier Fuad Siniora today, shouting "Shame on you" in protest at the UK government's stance on the Israeli bombing of Lebanon.