BRITAIN: British foreign secretary Jack Straw yesterday appealed to the modern Muslim world by saying Britain's troops must stay in Iraq to build democracy and Turkey must have the right to join the European Union.
But his speech, at the Labour Party conference in Brighton, was interrupted when an 82-year-old heckler was manhandled by party stewards after he shouted "It's a lie" when Mr Straw defended keeping the troops in Iraq to build stability.
The incident soured a speech in which Mr Straw sought to draw together strands of foreign policy to meet Tony Blair's vision of a faster-changing world.
His strongest words were reserved for bringing Turkey into the EU: "Anchor Turkey in the west and we gain a beacon of democracy and modernity - a country with a Muslim majority - which will be a shining example across the whole of its neighbouring region." Mr Straw also sent a message to EU foreign ministers who meet on Monday to rule on Turkey's application, telling delegates: "Turkey would lose from a no decision. But Europe and its people would lose even more."
On Iraq he tried to compare the speed of the return of democracy with the rebuilding of Germany after the second World War, saying it had taken two years to establish elections in Iraq, compared with four in Germany. He praised voters for braving the terrorists and said British troops were there "for one reason only", to help the Iraqi government build "a secure, democratic and stable nation".
"None of us should underestimate the challenges that still lie ahead in Iraq. Nation building, from a violent past, has never been easy."
Things had been difficult and the government had never tried to disguise that. "But don't let anybody tell you they are all bad."
Earlier Mr Straw had been criticised by a speaker from the T&G union, assistant general secretary Barry Camfield, over keeping troops in Iraq. "Our troops should be pulled out now and quickly," he urged.
"Tony Blair has admitted he was wrong about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. He was wrong to support the neo-conservative Republican party in their battle for regime change. And he is wrong now to drag our country ever deeper into the crisis that is Iraq," Mr Camfield said.
"You cannot invade a country and declare war on it on an unacceptable and false premise, then decide to occupy it on the basis that you were wrong in the first place and that it might be a little embarrassing or involve a loss of face to give Iraq back to the Iraqis. I ask you in all conscience: are 100,000 civilian dead a price worth paying? Are the scores of British soldiers dead a price worth paying?"
The ejection of the heckler, Walter Wolfgang - a Labour Party veteran since 1948 - who was grabbed by stewards, has led to a call for an inquiry into the handling of protests.
When another delegate, Steve Forrest, tried to protect him he also was ejected and had his credentials taken away.
A party spokesman said later: "The Labour Party reserves its rights to remove from the conference site people who cause a persistent disturbance. However, it is clear from TV footage that the way in which Mr Wolfgang was removed was inappropriate and the Labour Party will apologise to Mr Wolfgang for this." - (Guardian service)