Government slammed over Lebanon response

Britain's failure to call for an immediate Lebanon ceasefire "significantly damaged" the UK's reputation around the world, MPs have said.

The House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee said the numbers of casualties could have been reduced if the Government had taken action straight away.

The war which began on July 12, 2006, and ended 34 days later, killed around 1,200 people in Lebanon and 158 Israelis. The report said Israel's military actions during the conflict were "indiscriminate and disproportionate".

More than 3.5 million cluster bombs were dropped in the 72 hours after the UN Security Council passed a resolution which effectively ended the war.

One million unexploded cluster bombs - each containing between 80 and 650 bomblets - continue to hinder reconstruction efforts and 250 people, 207 of them civilians, have died in related incidents since the ceasefire.

A Foreign Office spokesman insisted however that the UK had worked "strenuously" to secure a ceasefire and had made clear its concerns to Israel about the civilian impact of its military action.

The FO itself was criticised for being overly secretive with basic information with officials too ready to impose "crude" blanket classifications of documents that contained non-sensitive items such as staff numbers and running costs.

In a wide-ranging assessment of the Middle East, MPs also warned that the US "surge" tactic in Iraq appears likely to fail, with Washington committing 30,000 extra troops to the war-torn country.

The report said: "We believe that the success of this strategy will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues."

Four British service personnel were killed in Iraq last week alone, one of the bloodiest for some time, bringing the total number who have died in the country since the 2003 invasion to 168.

MPs called on the Government to set out what actions it is taking to help foster political reconciliation amid growing pressure to withdraw coalition forces.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is due to announce his future strategy to Parliament in October, shortly after the top US general in Iraq delivers his verdict on the "surge".

The committee also hit out at aspects of the UK and allies' approach to the Palestinian situation and called on former Prime Minister Tony Blair to engage with Hamas.

It said Britain's refusal to speak to the Islamist group is counterproductive and efforts should be made to form a new unity Palestinian government in the West Bank and Gaza.

Pursuing a "West Bank first policy" - where Britain deals with the West Bank, which is run by the more secular Fatah group, and isolates the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip - would further jeopardise peace, the report said.

"Given the failure of the boycott to deliver results, we recommend the government should urgently consider ways of engaging politically with moderate elements within Hamas," the all-party group of politicians said.

The parliamentary report also recommended Britain press President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah group is backed by the West, into negotiations with Hamas to re-establish "a national unity government across the occupied Palestinian territories".

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