Urgent Blair presses for Palestinian peace

Tony Blair faces a challenging diplomatic mission in the Middle East

Saturday, 16, Dec 2006 12:00

Tony Blair says the growing threat of an internecine Palestinian conflict has heightened the importance of efforts to achieve peace with Israel in the coming days and weeks.

The British prime minister is currently in Turkey on the first leg of a Middle Eastern tour aimed at fostering diplomatic unity in the region towards the deep-seated Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His visit comes amid extreme instability in Palestinian politics, following an attempt on the life of prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, of the ruling Hamas party, on Thursday.

Mr Haniyeh's convoy was attacked as it crossed from Egypt into Gaza. Hamas officials have blamed opposition group Fatah, the party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, for the assassination attempt.

In the current climate of conflict and suspicion, Mr Blair said that "the next few days or weeks are a critical moment of decision for this whole process".

Outlining his goals, he added: "The most important thing is that on the Palestinian side, one way or another, we have a fully functioning authority that the rest of us can deal with, support, and give financial assistance to ... that is what I hope we'll be able to agree on during the course of the visit."

Mr Blair achieved complete agreement with Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan on the Palestinian issue but was forced to tackle the thorny question of Turkey's accession to the EU in the immediate aftermath of the suspension of some areas of talks.

"It is important we continue the process to accession with Turkey and we do not shut the door to Turkey's membership," he said, referring to the ongoing impasse over the trade dispute with the Greek-Cypriot republic on southern Cyprus.