The British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, is continuing his tour of the Middle East with visits to Syria and Lebanon after brushing off a major diplomatic row with Israel.

Mr Cook is meeting government leaders in Damascus and Beirut on Wednesday before returning to Britain.

Mr Cook eventually had an "amicable" meeting with Mr Netanyahu

The UK's relations with Israel plunged to a new low on Tuesday when the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, delivered a major diplomatic rebuff by cancelling an official dinner.

Mr Netanyahu was infuriated by the Foreign Secretary's visit to Har Homa, a controversial settlement on the edge of Arab East Jerusalem.

Mr Netanyahu's office announced the decision following a meeting which Mr Cook held with Palestinian representatives at the settlement.

British officials called it a fantastic overreaction. They said the Israelis appeared to be in an ugly and insensitive mood.

EU contribution

However, both sides later played down the row, and Mr Netanyahu and Mr Cook attended a scheduled meeting together. At a news conference in Jerusalem, Mr Cook said he had had amicable talks lasting more than an hour.

They had discussed how the European Union could make a greater contribution to the peace process, he said.

Mr Cook insisted that he had kept his agreement with the Israeli government about the visit to Har Homa, saying he had "leant over backwards" to accommodate the Israelis.

Among other things he had cancelled a planned meeting at the site with a senior Palestinian official, Faisal Husseini, on their insistence.

The Israelis had taken umbrage at the proposed meeting, which was subsequently rescheduled.

At Har Homa, demonstrators shouted slogans such as "Robin Cook go home" and "the British mandate in Palestine is over", making it difficult for him to meet the Palestinians.

A small group of Israeli demonstrators from the group 'Peace Now' carried banners in support of Mr Cook's mission and asked him to help them save the peace process.

Palestinians on the spot said it was a good thing that Mr Cook had come but expressed disappointment at Faisal Husseini's absence.

Opposition leaders Yossi Beilin and Haim Ramon said Mr Netanyahu's response was "unnecessary and avoidable" and diverted the focus from the main goal of Mr Cook's visit, which was intended to help restart stalled peace talks.

"Jerusalem is not on the agenda right now," Mr Ramon said, adding that Mr Cook was most interested in pushing an American initiative that called for Israel to fulfil promises to hand over more West Bank territory to the Palestinians.
 

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