The mission is likely to get even bumpier today when the Prime Minister faces the Israeli Government, which was angered by the platform that his Damascus visit gave Syria, and Palestinian protests in Gaza.

Mr Blair was publicly rebuffed when President Assad, who had invited him to Damascus, used a joint press conference to attack the war in Afghanistan, describe Palestinian terrorist groups as freedom fighters, accept Taleban claims on civilian casualties, and call Israel a terrorist state. The President compared Palestinian “resistance fighters” to General Charles de Gaulle in his resistance to the Nazi occupation in France.

The hostility towards the US-led bombing in Afghanistan was echoed in Riyadh last night as American jets bombed the Taleban frontlines north of Kabul.

Asked repeatedly whether any of the senior figures that he had met on this trip had backed the war, Mr Blair’s spokesman side-stepped the question by saying that there had been agreements about the objectives of tackling terrorism, but “of course there is discussion about the means”.

On the home front there were further problems for Mr Blair. John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, told MPs that the campaign was not likely to bear fruit until spring.

Mr Prescott told MPs: “We will now begin the steady progress over the winter building up to the spring of next year of fragmenting, undermining and eventually destroying the Taleban regime.”

Downing Street sources insisted that Mr Prescott was stating the obvious, but there were signs of annoyance that a timetable had been set out for the first time.

Mr Assad’s words are likely to produce a furious response from Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister. Mr Blair will meet him today before going to Gaza to see Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader. Israeli forces yesterday killed six Palestinians, including a Hamas militant in a missile strike.

The Prime Minister, whose expression darkened during Mr Assad’s denunciation of the conduct of the war, was surprised by what appeared to be an ambush by the President. British sources said later that Mr Assad clearly had to talk to his domestic audience.

Close colleagues of Mr Blair said that he had asked Mr Assad for help in getting the peace process under way again by urging hardline groups to restrain their activities. Mr Assad, who portrayed himself as the voice of moderate Islam, had asked for Mr Blair’s aid in helping to control the extreme fundamentalists, the colleagues said.Mr Blair welcomed a repeated condemnation from Mr Assad of the atrocities of September 11, but the President followed that by saying that there was a difference between combating terrorism and war.

“We did not say that we supported an international coalition for launching a war,” he said. “We are always against war.” Asked whether he was asking Mr Blair to stop the war, Mr Assad replied: “We are not asking for anything.

“At the same time we cannot accept what we see every day on the television screens: the killing of innocent civilians, hundreds of them dying every day. I do not think anybody in the West agrees to that.” The Taleban said yesterday that the civilian toll was 1,500.

Mr Blair, who aides said decided not to raise the stakes by confronting Mr Assad in public about his comments, interjected that the West had done its utmost to minimise civilian casualties. The attacks in the US on September 11 were designed to maximise civilian casualties, he added.

Syria wanted peace, Mr Assad said. “Israel has proved every day that it is against this peace. The desire for peace cannot co-exist with the desire for killing. Israel is prosecuting state terrorism regularly.”

In Saudi Arabia Mr Blair had talks with King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, the acting ruler. The talks were previously postponed because of sensitivities over the bombing, but they were reinstated at the Saudis’ request.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said that two weeks ago it had been reported that Mr Blair was not welcome in Saudi Arabia. The visit showed that was not the case, he said.

At a press briefing last night in Riyadh Mr Blair said that he and and the Saudi leadership agreed that there should be a broad-based government to replace the Taleban and that the two countries would work together to achieve it.

Brushing aside questions about the alleged Saudi refusal to allow use of its air bases for attacks on Afghanistan, Mr Blair said that they had “responded positively to every request made to them”.

Asked if he was disappointed by Mr Assad’s comments, he said: “You have to understand there are different perspectives people bring to this.” He added that there was far greater understanding than may have appeared the case in public.

Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001370005-2001380490,00.html