MONTREAL — Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe says Prime Minister Stephen Harper needs to return Canada to its traditional role of peacekeeper in the Middle East.

Duceppe criticized the Harper government Friday and accused it of doing a poor job since the Lebanese crisis erupted a few weeks ago.

The Bloc leader is particularly upset with Harper for defending Israel's airstrikes in Lebanon as a measured response after the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah.

"Canada was considered as a country that could intervene in certain situations, and be accepted by both parties," Duceppe told a news conference. "But now, since he (Harper) supported totally what Israel was doing Canada won't be able to play the role that Canada was playing in the past."

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Harper, said later that the federal government's position was an endorsement of the stance taken by the G-8 industrialized nations concerning the conflict and does not differ from any other member states.

He also defended the actions taken by Ottawa to help Canadians get out of strife-torn Lebanon.

Duceppe says the Commons foreign affairs committee will meet next week and he said he hopes it will be able to get the government to adopt a position more in line with what Canadians think.

"We will push the government to return to a more balanced position in the conflict," he said.

Harper's actions have negated a 50-year Canadian peacekeeping tradition initiated by Lester B. Pearson, the sovereigntist leader claimed.

"The Conservative position and Stephen Harper's attitude towards the Lebanese conflict have caused real damage to Canada's capacity to play a constructive role in bringing back peace to the Middle East."

Duceppe blamed the confusion surrounding Canada's evacuation effort on micromanaging by the Prime Minister's Office, saying cabinet ministers interfered with decisions being taken by embassy officials.

"Mr. Harper wants to control everything," Duceppe said. "He should have just let people with an expertise in these matters work."

© The Canadian Press, 2006