Galloway says Israel poisoning West-Islam ties

Galloway said Israel's 39-year occupation of swathes of Arab territory had spurred militants to attack the West.

"The poison which

circulates as a result of this unresolved conflict is poisoning our own lives in the West and making our people more endangered," Galloway told a news conference at the end of a visit to Lebanon and Syria.

A critic of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Galloway was expelled from the Labour Party for his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war. Last year he became a member of parliament for the anti-war Respect party.

His stance on Iraq and his backing of the Palestinian cause has made him popular in the Arab world.

"Every time we see a martyrdom video from a young Muslim who was ready to swap his life for many of ours it is Palestine at the heart of this man's motivation," he said.

"It is now the duty of the backers of Israel to impress upon the Israeli leadership... a comprehensive peace."

Galloway called for the country to distance itself from U.S. policy in the Middle East and said Blair's response to Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon put more pressure on the prime minister to relinquish his job.

Blair faces mounting domestic pressure to fix a date to step down after saying he would not seek a fourth term in office. He was criticised by some of his own supporters for initially refusing to call for an immediate halt to the fighting.

A post-Blair foreign policy, Galloway said, should re-engage Syria, which he described as "moderate, progressive, secular, nationalist" and respect the fact that the country, ruled by the Baath Party since 1963, is not a U.S. "slave".

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