Shoe, eggs hurled at Blair in Dublin

2010-09-04 14:20

Dublin - Anti-war protesters hurled shoes and eggs at Tony Blair on Saturday as he arrived for the first public signing of his fast-selling memoir.

Scores of demonstrators chanted that Blair had "blood on his hands" as the former British prime minister arrived at a Dublin book store. A shoe, eggs and other projectiles were thrown toward Blair as he emerged from a car, but did not hit him.

Security was tight for the signing, with book buyers - who appeared to outnumber the protesters - told to hand over bags and cellphones before entering Eason's book store.

A Journey mounts a strong defence of Blair's policies during his decade as prime minister, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In an interview aired on Saturday, Blair rejected claims that the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan had increased Muslim radicalisation, saying "wicked and backward-looking" radical Islam is the greatest threat to global security.

Blair told the BBC World Service "the biggest threat in international security is this broader radicalised movement, because I think it is rather similar to revolutionary communism."

He said al-Qaeda-linked extremism was "loosely a global ideological movement, but Iran is a state sponsor of it".

- AP