The drive by the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, to strengthen the anti-terrorist coalition and the Middle East peace process yesterday suffered a very public rebuff at the hands of the leader of Syria.
President Bashar al-Assad gave Mr Blair a public dressing down, condemning the bombing of thousands of innocent Afghan civilians and then praising Palestinian armed groups as freedom fighters. Mr Blair had to stand and listen awkwardly as the Israelis were described as state terrorists and the West was accused of double standards with an inability to distinguish terrorism from self-defence.
The diplomatic rebuff came at a joint press conference in Damascus during which Mr Blair looked distinctly uneasy and pleaded for both sides to bridge their "fundamental misunderstandings".
Mr Blair will seek to restore the momentum of his visit to the Middle East today when he holds talks with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, in Jerusalem and then with the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat.
The chasm between the West and Muslim states over the definition of terrorism and the role of Israel showed the daunting scale of Mr Blair's mission, however.
President Assad told the press conference the military action in Afghanistan was mistaken. "We cannot accept what we see every day on our television screens - the killing of innocent civilians. There are hundreds dying every day now; I don't think anyone in the West agrees to that." He condemned terrorists, he said, "but we should differentiate between combating terrorism and war. We did not say we support an international coalition for war. We are always against war."
The US and Britain have for many years been concerned about Syria's support for armed militant groups fighting Israel - including Hizbullah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
But Mr Assad defined these groups as freedom fighters.
"We, and I personally, differentiate between resistance and terrorism. Resistance is a social, religious and legal right that is safeguarded by UN resolutions."
Likening the Palestinian armed groups to resistance fighters seeking to liberate their lands, he argued that in European countries the great symbol of resistance had been Gen De Gaulle.
"He fought to liberate the French land. Can anyone accuse De Gaulle of being a terrorist - no way."