Blair Urges White House to Shift Focus to Israel-palestine Conflict

Tony Blair made an open plea yesterday to George Bush to recognise that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the core of any hopes for wider peace in the Middle East, including Iraq.

In his annual foreign policy speech, seen as a chance to recalibrate Britain's Iraq strategy, Mr Blair said a solution to the conflict was central to a strategy that "pins back the forces trying to create mayhem inside Iraq".

He also urged Syria, and to a lesser extent Iran, to choose whether they wished to join the dialogue and become partners in a wider Middle East peace.

Mr Blair, famously cautious about pressing the Republican administration in public, is trying to seize the rare indecision in Washington in response to the Democrat victories to persuade the White House to acknowledge the central importance of the Palestinian peace process.

He will repeat the message when he gives video evidence today to the Iraq Study Group in Washington, the bipartisan panel seen as the vehicle by which Mr Bush could rethink his Iraq strategy.

Mr Blair is working towards a regional Middle East peace conference, but many of his advisers question whether Mr Bush has the political will to make a renewed effort on Palestine.

Mr Blair again argued last night that coalition forces would be able to leave Iraq within 18 months. In his speech at the Guildhall, he said: "A major part of the answer to Iraq lies not in Iraq itself, but outside it, in the whole region where the same forces are at work, where the extremism flourishes with a propaganda that may be - indeed is - totally false, but is none the less attractive to much of the Arab street."

He argued: "We should start with Israel- Palestine. That is the core. We should then make progress on Lebanon. We should unite all Arab and Muslim voices behind a push for peace in those countries but also in Iraq."

He believes Syria and Iran have a long-term interest in a stable Middle East, including an end to the sectarian conflict inside Iraq. Mr Blair's spokesman noted some shifts, described as "interesting", that Syria did not seem to be blocking the formation of a national technocratic unity government in Palestine between Hamas and Fatah. Such a government would open a route to direct talks with Israel.

But Mr Blair shifted his rhetoric only slightly, insisting that the west should not talk to Iran or Syria, part of Mr Bush's so-called axis of evil, at any price.

He repeatedly condemned Iran's posture, saying "they are using pressure points in the region to thwart us. So they help the most extreme elements of Hamas in Palestine, Hizbullah in the Lebanon, Shia militia in Iraq".

He called for a strong political compact, in Iraq, led by the government, to bring all the parties together with clear commitments to non-sectarian government. He said he wanted to strengthen the Iraqis' ability to control money for reconstruction and work to plug the gaps in the Iraqi army and police.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, welcomed the openness to Syria and Iran, arguing both countries had a self-interest in stability in Iraq. Syria's ambassador to the US, Imad Moustapha, said his country was willing to engage, but had no magic wand.

The speech came as the British military in Iraq studied any Iranian role in the killing of four British soldiers on boat patrol on Sunday. Three other servicemen were seriously injured in the attack, but the condition of one had significantly improved, defence officials said. The Ministry of Defence yesterday said two of the dead were Royal Marines from Devon-based 539 Assault Squadron - one of them attached from 45 Commando; one was from the Royal Signals; and the fourth from the Intelligence Corps.

Their patrol craft had just emerged from under a bridge on the Shatt al-Arab waterway when it was hit by an improvised explosive device placed on the bank. As the boat headed for the second bridge, there was a large explosion. "What caused it we do not know," said one official.