Blair defends decision on Lebanon
Tony Blair wants conditions for a ceasefire on both sides
Tony Blair has defended his decision not to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
He said there could not be a ceasefire on both sides until "the conditions to allow that to happen" were in place.
The prime minister told the BBC it was "simply not correct" to say he and US President Bush had not made the call because they wanted Israel to win.
Mr Blair＇s comments came as a Labour Muslim MP said he feared UK foreign policy may be seen as anti-Muslim.
Writing in Saturday＇s Guardian, Sadiq Khan said it was "not easy" for Muslims to watch "destruction wreaked in Lebanon".
The MP for Tooting also said UK Muslims could not understand why Mr Blair had not called for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
However, in an interview with BBC political editor Nick Robinson in San Francisco, Mr Blair said that was not the solution.
"If we can achieve a basis for a ceasefire that will allow Israel＇s security to be protected and the international community to be engaged in sorting out the south of Lebanon - so what was supposed to happen two years ago when these terrorist militias cleared out happens - then of course that＇s the right way to proceed," he said.
Mr Blair added that a ceasefire could only work if it was on both sides.
"It cannot be that Israel stops taking the action it＇s taking but Hezbollah continue to kill, kidnap, and launch rockets into the north of Israel at the civilian population there," he said.
Conference address
The Israeli assault began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on 12 July.
Some 600 Lebanese, the majority civilians, are confirmed killed in the conflict. Fifty-one Israelis, including at least 18 civilians, have been killed, mostly by Hezbollah rockets.
The prime minister, who held talks with President Bush at the White House on Friday, is now spending several days in California promoting his climate change plans and UK hi-tech business.
He is also due to attend a retreat on Sunday which is organised by publisher Rupert Murdoch＇s News International and hosted by Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
However, his speech to the News Corp retreat and his address to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles on Tuesday are expected to focus on the crisis in Lebanon.
The UN has called for a three-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah
Mr Blair said there was "absolutely nothing unusual" about his addressing a conference of News International executives.
Asked if he was trying to persuade Mr Murdoch to lend his support to Labour again, he said: "I think that＇s up to him."
"I should imagine it won＇t be anything I say that will determine that one way or another.
"But I think that the fact that you have a changed Labour Party today has meant that a lot of people including him, who previously thought of themselves as natural Conservatives, were prepared to back the Labour Party."
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