BRUSSELS (AFP) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) protested over Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s "boycott" of the BBC during his current British tour, saying the Israeli Prime Minister's behaviour sent a dangerous message to the Arab world on press freedom.

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The Brussels-based group, which represents around 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries, said Sharon had banned the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from taking part in his meetings with the press during his visit to London in protest over the broadcast of a documentary on Israel's nuclear programme.

"Governments that claim to be democratic cannot pick and choose media coverage to suit themselves," IFJ Secretary General Aidan White said in a statement.

"The price of democracy is transparency and public scrutiny... When Israel turns its face against these basic principles it makes the job of democratic transformation in the Middle East harder not easier."

Israel's attitude ""challenges free speech and sends out a dangerous message in a region where press freedom is under pressure," the statement continued.

The BBC's internet site announced earlier Monday that one of its correspondents had been refused access to a breakfast press meeting with Sharon in London on Tuesday.

Sharon made little if any headway Monday in getting Britain's help in changing EU attitudes towards veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites).

Sharon arrived Sunday on a mission to mend frayed ties with London, bringing with him a firm line about the need to ostracise Arafat and about Europe's attitude towards Israel.

"One thing Mr Blair and Mr Sharon will have in common is the BBC, as both are currently in dispute with it," the BBC said on its website.

Blair and the BBC are at loggerheads over British government claims about the level of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in the run-up to the US-led Iraq (news - web sites) war in which British troops played a major role.

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