Protests have gripped the Middle East and the wider Muslim world in response to a film deemed insulting to Islam.

Tony Blair, the former prime minister and currently Middle East "quartet" representative, dismissed the film as a "laughable piece of filmmaking" but said the reaction is "very dangerous and very wrong".

He told the Today programme that there is a struggle in the region between the forces of modernisation "and these very powerful forces of reaction based on a perverted view of religion".

"The great debate in the world at the moment is between the open-minded and the close-minded," he said, and believed that the open-minded will win the debate.

On Syria, Mr Blair said it "would be very tragic if we lost sight of what is happening" and called for a "ramping up" of the effort in the country.

Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844.