UK's Galloway says Israel poisoning West-Islam ties

DAMASCUS, Aug 31 (Reuters) Maverick British politician George Galloway urged Western governments today to reduce tensions with the Muslim world by pressuring Israel to withdraw from Arab land in the wake of its invasion of southern Lebanon.

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 British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Galloway was expelled from Blair's ruling 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 Britain to distance itself from US policy in the West Asia 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 US ''slave''.

Reuters AB RS2130