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[ 01-06-2021 ]
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[ Britain ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2004/11/11/710522-ap.html
Bush, Blair seek new Mideast talks
By ED JOHNSON
November 11, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair sought consensus with U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday to make peace in the Middle East an urgent priority, exploring whether the death of Yasser Arafat offers new avenues for restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks.
The two leaders met over dinner at the White House in an informal start of two days of talks about the pending elections in Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions, transatlantic relations and Middle East peace. Bush greeted Blair on the South Lawn with a hearty handshake and patted the smiling British leader on the back before ushering him inside.
Blair has publicly declared that he is seeking a renewed U.S. commitment to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The death of Palestinian leader Arafat on Thursday has created what many see as an opportunity for fresh efforts.
"That goal of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel is one that we must continue to work tirelessly to achieve," Blair said, reacting to Arafat's death.
"Peace in the Middle East must be the international community's highest priority. We will do whatever we can, working with the U.S. and the EU (European Union), to help the parties reach a fair and durable settlement," he said in London before heading for Washington.
Briefing reporters during the flight, Blair's official spokesman said one of Britain's goals was to revive the stalled "road map" peace plan.
"It's important that we get the strategy right and then engage the players in such a way that they do not feel that we are imposing something on them, that they do not feel we are saying, 'Take it or leave it,' " he said on condition of anonymity.
Blair is Bush's closest overseas ally and loyally supported and sent troops for the U.S.-led war in Iraq, in the face of widespread opposition in European capitals and at home. Their friendship is unpopular among a vast section of the British public. Many believe the prime minister doggedly follows Bush's lead without exerting any real influence.
With British general elections expected next year and members of Blair's Labour party still criticizing the war, Blair needs to prove that his close alliance with Bush bears fruit. Many British politicians expect Bush to reward Blair's loyalty with a renewed commitment to the peace process.
Blair said Thursday that "the relationship between Britain and the U.S. is fantastically important."
"You know, I think there always is and always should be a situation in which the British prime minister and the American president get on well together. I regard it as part of my job," Blair said in an interview with GMTV, a morning news program.
Bush's refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, the incarceration of detainees at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and what some regard as heavy-handed U.S. military tactics in Iraq have contributed to the president's unpopularity in Britain.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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