British Prime Minister Tony Blair left Ethiopia for home late on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule, airport sources in Addis Ababa said. There was no immediate explanation for the change in plan. Blair had been due to spend a third day of a trip to Sudan and Ethiopia consulting with members of a commission he has appointed to study how to lift Africa out of poverty. The commission is drawing up an African policy agenda for Britain to press when it heads both the Group of Eight industrial nations and European Union next year. Blair began his Africa trip with a one-day visit to Khartoum, where he warned Sudan that the international community would not rest until violence was ended in Darfur and a comprehensive peace deal was struck across the whole country. --SP 2346 Local Time 2046 GMT
