Britain's former prime minister has spoken in praise of Islam - so why has he become a Catholic and not a Muslim? Ajmal Masroor can't understand it. 

On a dinner date in “The Jerk”, the Steve Martin character demands a new wine, and won’t be palmed off with one of those old wines. In the article linked in Rebecca’s post here, Ajmal Masmoor is thinking along the same lines: why have old when you can have new?

Tony Blair's conversion to Catholicism does not come as a surprise to anyone but I would have liked him to turn to Islam instead. Blair has claimed on many occasions that he has read the Quran and has said he found its teachings "progressive". He is right that the Quran is progressive and as a revealed book of God, it is the latest testament. Why would Blair turn to the older versions of God's testament when there is the Quran? His conversion sounds rather regressive to me.

New is better. Euston Station is better than St Pancras. The New English Bible is better than the King James Version with its incomprehensible “thees” and “thous”. New lamps are better than old - usually. As for new wine, under the progressive religion, it is neither here nor there; forward-thinking Mohammed banned it altogether rather than merely commanding, as fuddy-duddy old Jesus did, that you put it in new bottles. Masmoor goes on to tell us masses more about the progressive religion of  Islam:

According to Blair, Islam "extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition". I agree, but why has he embraced Catholicism with its history of hostility towards science and is embedded with superstition? If Jesus (may peace be on him) was to descend today and walk into a church he would not recognise anything that Christians are practising in his name. So why then convert to Catholicism?

Blair was very clear in his words when he said Islam "is practical and far ahead of its time in attitudes toward marriage, women, and governance". If Islam is a religion that values family and respects women why has he converted to a church that prohibits its priests from getting married, whose holy man are dogged by accusations of homosexuality and paedophilia?

A really progressive religion would legalise paedophilia, as Islam does in the form of child marriage, rather than condemn it.

Blair certainly admires Islam. He said "under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands were breathtaking.

True. The breath of many Christians and pagans was indeed taken.

Over centuries, Islam founded an empire and led the world in discovery, art, and culture." If I admired a faith so much I would convert to it. So I am baffled to know why he has converted to Catholicism and not embraced Islam.Islam certainly stands for tolerance and demonstrates this by giving a special status to the Christians and Jews calling them people of the Book - Ahl al-Kitab. Christianity does not do the same. Blair reminded us that "the standard-bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian ones". Yes, but why has Mr Blair converted to Catholicism? Surely he stands for tolerance, progress and good governance.

And finally I have one last question for Blair. Did you not say "the faith of Islam is very peaceful and a very beautiful faith"? Why have you not tried Islam? I do not want to dismiss your journey to spirituality, but it is not too late to try Islam - you may like it.

The first reader comment explains laconically why Blair has not converted to this tolerant religion:

I guess the problem is - if he later changes his mind, he might be killed..

Masmoor’s  piece is a masterpiece of what Orwell called “doublethink” and what Bill Warner terms “duality”. With no sense of irony, he extols Islam’s conquest of Christian lands and yet castigates Blair for his warmongering. This is a consistent position if you believe, as most Muslims do, in jihad, the struggle to spread Islam, frequently but not exclusively by violent means. Infidel wars are simply wars; Muslim war is jihad. If infidels fight to resist Islam, such resistance must be crushed.

Returning to the subject of Tony Blair’s conversion, I believe it is sincere. As a politician, Blair would do anything for votes, including praising Islam, about which he is very ignorant. But I can’t see how becoming a Catholic will earn him favours. And at least it means he will never be king.

The Telegraph (hat tip: DW): Agents from MI6 entered secret talks with Taliban leaders despite Gordon Brown's pledge that Britain would not negotiate with terrorists, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Officers from the Secret Intelligence Service staged discussions, known as "jirgas", with senior insurgents on several occasions over the summer.

An intelligence source said: "The SIS officers were understood to have sought peace directly with the Taliban with them coming across as some sort of armed militia. The British would also provide 'mentoring' for the Taliban."

The disclosure comes only a fortnight after the Prime Minister told the House of Commons: "We will not enter into any negotiations with these people."

Opposition leaders said that Mr Brown had "some explaining to do".

The Government was apparently prepared to admit that the talks had taken place but Gordon Brown was thought to have "bottled out" just before Prime Minister's Questions on Dec 12, when he made his denial instead.

It is thought that the Americans were extremely unhappy with the news becoming public that an ally was negotiating with terrorists who supported the September 11 attackers.

The delicate balance in Afghanistan was underlined as it emerged that two diplomats had been ordered by the Kabul government to leave the country after allegations that they had met Taliban insurgents without the administration's knowledge.

The pair, a top European Union official and a United Nations staff member, were declared "persona non grata" and said to be "threatening national security".

They are both Afghan experts who have been working in the country since the 1980s. They are in their forties and cannot be named. One man works as a political adviser to the European Union while the other is employed as a political adviser to the UN mission in Kabul.

One of the men described the charges as "banal and preposterous" and said he hoped the Afghan government would quickly drop its threat to deport them.

MI6's meetings with the Taliban took place up to half a dozen times at houses on the outskirts of Lashkah Gah and in villages in the Upper Gereshk valley, to the north-east of Helmand's main town.

The compounds were surrounded by a force of British infantry providing a security cordon.

To maintain the stance that President Hamid Karzai's government was leading the negotiations the clandestine meetings took place in the presence of Afghan officials.

"These meetings were with up to a dozen Taliban or with Taliban who had only recently laid down their arms," an intelligence source said. "The impression was that these were important motivating figures inside the Taliban."

The Prime Minister had denied reports of talks with the Taliban under questioning from David Cameron, the Tory leader, in Parliament...