Tony Blair in citizen's arrest scare as Brussels journalist tries to detain him over 'war crimes'



A journalist tried to arrest Tony Blair for 'crimes against peace' as the former prime minister arrived to give a speech at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Mr Blair flinched as his accuser, left-wing writer David Cronin, wearing a press pass and carrying a notepad, put a hand on his wrist and told him: 'This is a citizen's arrest.'

The former leader is then said to have given would-be detainer a 'bewildered and contemptuous' stare before bodyguards pounced.



As Mr Cronin was pushed away on Monday, he shouted 'Mr Blair, you are guilty of war crimes' referring to the Iraq invasion.



Attempted arrest: Tony Blair at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference in Washington yesterday, where he spoke in his capacity as Mid-East Envoy



'War of aggression': David Cronin



English law allows anyone to try and arrest someone they know has committed a crime when it is not practical for the police to do so.

Although the concept of citizen's arrest is woollier in Belgian law, Mr Cronin said he wanted to to escort the former leader to a nearby police station to be charged with committing a 'war of aggression'.

Mr Cronin, who has written for the Guardian, said: 'It was an attempt to draw attention to Mr Blair's crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.'

He left the room of his own accord after the incident, although when he returned half an hour later he was refused entry by security.



'My motivation in trying to arrest Blair is entirely based on my contempt for the crimes he has committed and abetted in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and Serbia,' Cronin told EUobserver.com.

It is the second time that Mr Blair's bodyguards have had to step in to protect him in six months.

In October of last year the former Prime Minister was touring a West Bank mosque when he was assailed by a young Palestinian who accused him of being a terrorist.

'He is not welcome in the land of Palestine,' the man shouted before he was dragged away by Palestinian security forces.

'You know, he made his protest and that's fair enough,' Mr Blair, 56, told reporters at the time.

Taking no chances: A bodyguard (left) scuffles with the Palestinian man after he shouts 'You are a terrorist' at Tony Blair while on a visit to a West Bank mosque in October 2009

'I think it's important for you guys as well to not always mistake the protest for the general view of the whole population.'

He studied history and development studies at University College Dublin, followed by journalism at Dublin City University.



After writing for a variety of Irish publications, he moved to Brussels in 1995, initially working as a press officer and research assistant in the European Parliament for a Green Party MEP.



He was appointed the European Correspondent for The Sunday Tribune, a leading Irish newspaper, in 1998. He then worked from 2001 till 2006 as Political Correspondent for European Voice, a weekly newspaper owned by The Economist.



Cronin has also written about rock, jazz and world music for The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Bulletin, the main English-language magazine targeting expatriates living in Belgium.



He has written a book on EU -Israeli relations which he says is coming out later this year.











