RAMALLAH: Palestinian political groups and intellectuals on Thursday declared British Prime Minister Tony Blair persona non grata ahead of his expected visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Tony Blair is not at all welcome and his expected visit is an extreme provocation hurting Palestinian feelings," said a petition published in the Al-Ayyam newspaper, claiming to be signed by hundreds of Palestinians.
"He is coming to visit us in order to wash his Lebanese-bloodstained hands, with Palestinian water," the petition wrote.
It accused Blair of intending to use his Ramallah visit to "present himself as a man of peace after the heavy criticism he endured at home and throughout the world for refusing to work for a ceasefire in Lebanon so as to give Israeli generals time to finish their destructive operation".
The petition accused the British prime minister of "bias" on the Palestinian question, of favouring Israel and "helping besiege and starve the Palestinian people without scruple".
"We call on the Palestinian leadership to tell Tony Blair this is not the right moment for him to come to Ramallah," the petition concluded.
He is expected to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem.
Blair was expected to announce on Thursday that he will step down within a year in order to quell a spiralling crisis and calls for him to resign sooner.
