"'We' is not the West. 'We' are as much Muslim as Christian or Jew or Hindu. 'We' are those who believe in religious tolerance, openness to others, to democracy, liberty and human rights administered by secular courts," he will say.

The speech, due to be given at a Reuters Newsmaker event, is the first of three that Blair plans to deliver on terrorism and the significance of Iraq and Afghanistan. The second will be given in Australia and the third in the United States.

"The only way to win is to recognize this phenomenon is a global ideology; to see all areas in which it operates as linked and to defeat it by values and ideas set in opposition to those of the terrorists," the speech will say.

Blair will say a belief in an "activist approach" to foreign policy, based on values and interests, is the theme underlying the government's approach to issues from Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, to climate change and poverty in Africa.

Blair's spokesman played down fears the speech might ring alarm bells in Iran, which is locked in a battle of wills with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program.

"On Iran, we are engaged in an activist, interventionist approach. It isn't just sitting back waiting for Iran, it is trying to enforce through diplomacy," the spokesman said.

Blair will contrast his approach with one he calls the "doctrine of benign activity," a doctrine he says sees setbacks in Iraq and Afghanistan as a reason why Saddam Hussein and the Taliban should have been left in place.

"The terrorists know that if they are to succeed either in Iraq or Afghanistan or indeed Lebanon or anywhere else wanting to go the democratic route, then the choice of a modern future for the Arab or Muslim world is dealt a potentially mortal blow," Blair will say.

"Likewise if they fail and those countries become democracies and make progress, then not merely is that a blow against their whole value system but it is the most effective message against their wretched propaganda about America, the West and the rest of the world."

Blair said nations must recognize extremism is deep rooted -- with 40 to 50 countries subject to regular terrorist attacks loosely linked to its ideology -- and that an interventionist stance was the precondition for future prosperity and stability.

© Copyright Reuters Ltd.

But their diminishing numbers suggested the opposition was losing momentum in its drive to overturn President Alexander Lukashenko's overwhelming victory on Sunday, despite support from the United States and the European Union.

International observers said the vote fell short of democratic standards, and Europe's main human rights organization denounced it as a farce. Washington called for a new election.

On Sunday night an estimated 10,000 people had poured into Oktyabrskaya Square to register their outrage - a demonstration extraordinary for its size and for the restraint shown by police. The former Soviet republic is a tightly controlled country where police have cracked down swiftly on unsanctioned opposition gatherings.

Leaders called on them to return to the square Monday evening, but only about 5,000 heeded the call. By midnight their numbers had fallen to a few hundred.

"What happened last night will be in history books," the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, told the shivering protesters early Tuesday.

"We are here, and we have begun the true struggle for freedom, truth and justice," he said, urging supporters to stick it out.

During the night the protesters formed a human chain around a dozen small tents they set up in the square, locking arms to protect the tiny encampment. Others tried to bring in blankets, food and hot beverages to help them endure their vigil in freezing temperatures but were often detained by police.

"I believe that the repression will not stop us," said Olena Savina, 21, a journalism student who said police detained her for about an hour and took away the bread, sausages and sleeping mats she was bringing to the square. "I believe that there will be more and more of us."

Milinkevich has called Lukashenko an "illegal, illegitimate president," describing his official vote tally as "monstrously inflated." Backing his appeal for a new vote, the United States hinted it might impose travel restrictions on Belarusian leaders.

"The United States will continue to stand with the people of Belarus," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, congratulated Lukashenko and said the results would help strengthen the alliance of the two ex-Soviet countries.

Milinkevich said two top opposition figures, United Civil Party leader Anatoly Lebedko and his deputy, Alexander Dobrovolsky, were detained early Tuesday.

Andrei Denko, head of a leading opposition newspaper called Nasha Niva, was detained by police after he got off a bus by the square Tuesday morning.

Three Georgian citizens, including a diplomat, were detained late Monday in Belarus and were likely to be deported, Georgian legislator Givi Targamadze said in Tbilisi.

Belarusian authorities claimed before the vote that Georgians including Targamadze were involved in an alleged election-day terror plot aimed at overthrowing the government - accusations widely dismissed as scare tactics.

The Belarusian Interior Ministry said it could not immediately confirm the detentions.

"The attitude of the police was particularly scandalous. Having resorted to significant violence during the demonstration, the forces of law and order refused to call for first aid as Cyril was lying on the ground in an obviously serious state," SUD PTT said.

But a paramedic from the CRS riot police said that Ferez had told him his injuries were inflicted by other demonstrators.

In a deposition to an official investigation into the incident, the paramedic said Ferez was "in a semi-conscious state with multiple facial bruising" and that he appeared to have consumed alcohol.

In the ambulance which took them to hospital Ferez "realised we were keen to get to the exact truth and he admitted he had had an argument with other demonstrators who had attacked him", the unnamed paramedic said.

But SUD PTT said "once again the General Services Inspectorate (investigating authority) and the government are trying to cover up a police blunder".

Tens of thousands of people attended Saturday's protest march, which was peaceful until the end, when groups of masked men began throwing projectiles at police and setting fire to vehicles. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges.

"Saddam is still to be considered the legal president of Iraq because he was not overthrown by the people but by the occupation forces."

"It is dangerous to send troops to eliminate heads of state who are not appreciated, because tomorrow it could be the turn of Castro, Kadhafi or Mugabe, or even China and North Korea," he said, referring to Cuban President Fidel Castro and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

"The invasion of Iraq was not justified because Saddam had already abandoned weapons of mass destruction," Kadhafi added, referring to the main US pretext for invading Iraq three years ago.

He said that the United States should get out of Iraq in its own interest "because the Iraqis are no longer afraid of the Americans so that the murder of US soldiers has become routine."

Libya and the United States resumed direct diplomatic relations in June 2004 -- after a gap of 24 years which saw US planes bomb Tripoli in 1986 -- following Kadhafi's announcement of a programme to destroy his weapons of mass destruction.

© Copyright Agence France-Presse.