No reason given for early finish

Blair curtails Africa trip

Blair curtails Africa trip

The Prime Minister has cut short his trip to Ethiopia, a day ahead of schedule.

A Downing Street spokesman said Tony Blair set off for London at 20.30 BST after taking off from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday.

The spokesman declined to state the reason for the schedule change, but said Mr Blair had finished all the meetings on his itinerary.

Mr Blair was pencilled in to spend the last day of his three-day Africa trip with members of the Africa Commission.

The Prime Minister made a surprise stop over in Sudan on Wednesday to discuss the current crisis in Darfur, before flying on to Ethiopia to deliver an address to the Africa Commission.

He is now believed to be back in Downing Street, and there are no indications that he has experienced any further health problems.

Mr Blair had successful surgery a week ago for heart palpitations and said he was in robust health.