NEW DELHI, Sept 8: British Prime Minister Tony Blair dodged questions on Thursday about what his wife Cherie may or may not have told a group of Indian women journalists about the place of women in Islam.

Mrs Blair, accompanying her husband, was quoted in Indian newspapers as telling members of the Indian Women’s Press Corps on Wednesday that she was ‘fascinated’ by Islam.

Some participants reportedly told British journalists travelling with Mr Blair that she also described Islam as an ‘anachronism’ and suggested that Islam treats women badly.

Confronted at a pre-departure press conference, the prime minister, clearly wary of another round of attacks on his lawyer spouse in the British press, said: “I wasn’t at the lunch. I haven’t spoken to Cherie about it.”

“I’ve got enough issues on my plate... I think I’ll not comment any further,” he added.

Shubha Singh, a columnist who attended the event, said Mrs Blair did indeed admit a fascination of Islam, and that she felt the religion had ‘a deep philosophical base’.

“But there are some interpretations, especially about women, that I have problems with,” Cherie Blair added, according to Shubha Singh, who was reading from her notes.

Mrs Blair accompanied the prime minister throughout his tour of China and India this week as part of Britain’s turn at the rotating EU presidency.

But all of the events she attended without her husband were classified as ‘private’ and therefore off limits to the 30-odd journalists in Mr Blair’s entourage. —AFP