Pope warns Blair against Iran attack

The Pope has told the prime minister to pursue diplomatic solutions to problems in the Middle East, including Iran.

Tony Blair had a private audience with Pontiff Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Saturday at the end of a week-long trip to Italy.

The two leaders discussed how "moderate voices" from the world's main religions need to work together to tackle extremism and reduce the risk of terrorism, according to Number 10.

As well as the Middle East, Iran and Iraq, a topic they also covered was the fight against poverty in Africa in their first meeting since the Pope succeeded John Paul II last year.

And a Vatican spokesman said: "The Pope did stress that diplomacy and not conflict was the best way forward."

Britain has been at the heart of EU attempts to engage Tehran in talks over its nuclear programme, which bore fruit last week when the US, which has refused to rule out military action, said it would resume direct negotiations.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister and the Pope talked about the challenges of globalisation, and the importance of dialogue between the faiths to battle extremism and terrorism.

"One of the themes of discussion was how the moderate voices in all the world's major religions need to stand up to religious extremism in all its forms."