MIDDLE EAST: British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair has challenged Arab and other sceptics to hold him and President Bush to their renewed commitment to a peace settlement in the Middle East. And he has cited the Northern Ireland peace process as evidence of the "enormous" prize to be won with an Israeli/Palestinian settlement.
Employing choreography of the kind familiar in Northern Ireland negotiations, Mr Blair appeared in Downing Street shortly after the President's announcement that the US will publish the so-called "road map" for peace as soon as the Palestinian Authority confirms a prime minister "with real authority".
Mr Blair - who has taken the lead in pressing for Palestinian reform as an aide to a revived peace process - immediately discussed the move with Palestinian leader Mr Yassar Arafat and the incoming Palestinian prime minister, Mr Mahmoud Abbas.
Offering the prospect of a viable Palestinian state and a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict by 2005, Mr Blair then told reporters: "The most important thing we can do is show even-handedness towards the Middle East. We are right to focus on Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction but we must put equal focus on the people whose lives are being devastated by the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process."
Pledging to use his influence to ensure the resumption of peace talks without delay, Mr Blair said this was "a vital issue in its own right" and that the Bush plan provided "a route to a permanent two-state solution . . . Through steps by both sides in all the relevant areas".
The initiative won approval from Ms Clare Short, who is set to quit Mr Blair's cabinet if he proceeds to war with Iraq without explicit UN sanction. She said she was "delighted" the US had shown its commitment to the "road map" to Middle East peace.
However, Mr Blair faced sceptical questioning about the timing of this initiative, reinforced last night by British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock who suggested it might increase the prospects for a UN breakthrough on a second resolution on Iraqi disarmament.
Dismissing a suggestion from one Arab journalist that the plan was "too little, too late", Mr Blair said: "We know there is a great focus on Iraq at the moment, of course there is. But I think that the issue that people have always raised with us is 'show that you are even-handed, tell us you are prepared to care and work as much for a resolution of the Palestinian issue as you do about the issue of weapons of mass destruction'. This is a big step forward because the road map gives us the clear focus to come to a comprehensive settlement based on the two-state solution."
Rejecting a suggestion that the timing of the President's announcement would be met with scepticism, Mr Blair insisted: "I think it is precisely now, when we do have this focus on weapons of mass destruction and Saddam and all the things he has done, it is precisely now that we say to the Arab and Muslim world we accept the obligation of even-handedness."
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Charles Kennedy gave a "cautious" welcome to the President's announcement, while adding that people would want to consider the implications of its timing.