MIDDLE EAST: THERE'S an easy way to test the validity of columnist Peter Mullen's statements on the Middle East (Echo, 18 July).

Just ask which country in the region has nuclear weapons? Which country refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and bars international inspections?

Which country has seized the territory of other nations and occupies it in defiance of UN resolutions? Which country routinely violates international borders with warplanes, artillery and naval gunfire?

Which country sends assassins abroad to kill its political enemies? Which country, according to the UN, created 762,000 refugees and refuses to allow them to return to their homes, farms and businesses?

Which country refuses to pay compensation to people whose land, bank accounts and businesses it confiscated? Which country continues to defy 69 UN Security Council resolutions and has been protected from 29 more by US vetoes?

The answer to every one of those questions is Israel. Not "little" Israel of Mr Mullen's fairy stories, but great big Israel, swollen with stolen land, with one of the best equipped armies in the world and armed to the teeth with WMD (weapons of mass destruction). A rogue state if ever there was one. - Dr Pat McIntyre, Durham.

IF anyone doubts that Israel is a terrorist state let them read Peter Smith's article, A tinder box close to ignition (Echo, July 18).

The Israelis are barbarians and are committing atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon worthy of the Nazis.

I am so angry about what is happening in the Middle East my feelings about George Bush and Tony Blair could not be printed.

They, with Israel, are indeed the "axis of evil" Mr Bush so loves to say about those who oppose him.

Who would bomb women and children fleeing Beirut in a convoy of lorries? You've got it in one, Israel.

George Bush has wrecked the United Nations and, as for Tony Blair, he's beyond the pale. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

THANK you, wonderful Northern Echo and Peter Smith (Echo, July 18) for daring to tell the truth about what is really going on in the Middle East.

Israel must call a halt to its madness and orgy of destruction, which is stoking the anti-Semitism already present in the world. Sadly, innocent Jews will suffer yet again. - Rose Reeve, Durham.

WE must all sympathise with people living in Lebanon, and it seems our Government is working hard to evacuate those Brits wishing to leave.

However, as I watched the TV news, most of the so-called Brits had a somewhat Oriental appearance with foreign sounding names.

Could it be yet another abuse of dual nationality - enjoying all the advantages of residence abroad, but returning to the UK when things get tough? - Susan Willis, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.

GREYHOUND KILLINGS

REGARDING the case of David Smith who ran his own greyhound slaughterhouse near Seaham, Co Durham, as reported by The Sunday Times and The Northern Echo.

This man has been shooting dogs for many years and it is estimated he has killed at least 10,000. His father provided this service before him.

The undercover pictures showed this man leading two healthy greyhounds into a shed and reappearing with their bodies. To save time and effort, he must have shot one dog in front of the other.

This man has not committed any offence. It is perfectly legal to put a steel bolt through the head of a dog who is no longer fast enough to win.

Sadly, some greyhounds are often mutilated (removal of the ears which are identity-tattooed) and left to bleed to death. Others are drowned, burnt alive or exposed to other horrors - something the greyhound racing industry has attempted to hide for many years.

Don't support greyhound racing. Some owners care for their dogs and keep them when they retire, but they are the exception to the rule.

To find out more, and help greyhounds in this country and abroad, please visit www.greyhoundaction.co.uk or phone (01562) 700043. - Lucy Crabtree, Darlington.

I FELT physically sick when I read about David Smith's slaughterhouse for the trusting greyhounds. How can this man sleep at night? Now he has the audacity to say he is suffering "massive stress" - because his lifestyle has been brought to light?

These poor dogs have raced and earned money for their owners and, when they no longer win races, this is their fate.

If homes cannot be found for them, why don't the owners pay for them to be put to sleep humanely by vets, paid for from the winnings the dogs have earned for them?

Mr Smith says he was "doing society a favour", asserting that the dogs were sick or injured - all 10,000 of them?

He wasn't doing me a favour, or hundreds of thousands of other animal lovers. - Mrs DE Hennessy, Darlington.

AIRPORT PARKING

FOLLOWING David Sugden's letter about parking at Durham Tees Valley Airport (HAS, July 18) I feel compelled to write about my experience there.

I parked my car on Thursday, July 6, and returned on July 11 to find my ticket cost was £43 - this being more than the cost of the flight to my holiday destination of Jersey.

I tried to pay for my ticket with the only currency I had, which was Jersey notes. Surprise, surprise - the machine does not except Channel Island notes. A really good bit of planning is the position of the ticket machine right beside the trolley park - watch your ankles.

Eventually, we had to pay by cheque at the information desk and we have since found out that most travel agents can book a car park stay at a staggering 30 per cent discount.

I feel sorry for any young family returning from a fortnight's well-deserved break to find this sort of cost waiting to spoil their day. - Chris Brown, Newton Hall, Durham.

HIDDEN SAVINGS

DURING a break on a car trip day out we sat just off the road in a field gateway on chairs about 300 yards from Parcevall Hall, Skyreholme, Skipton, North Yorkshire.

We may not have been noticed by cars passing at intervals to and from the hall (where entry charges apply) at the end of the road, but we were able to watch them to where the road bent to the right, about half way up.

One car stopped just short of the bend and a middle-aged couple got out, went to the back, opened the boot, took out the contents and put them on the back seat of the car.

We couldn't believe our eyes when the fairly tall man got in and crouched down inside in the boot. His partner closed it over him, then got back in the driver's seat and drove off around the corner.

What some people will do to save a few bob. - George Appleby, Clifton, York.

SAFE AFTER ALL?

WHY is it that when ancient buildings, such as pre-Roman, are found they lie several feet underground? Does this mean that the land is rising and we should not be worried about the sea levels going up? - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill, Co Durham.