British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Egypt this morning on a Middle East peace drive after predicting that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would find a way to break a deadlock between rival factions during his trip.
Mr Blair, who came from Turkey and will travel on to Israel, the Palestinian territories and the United Arab Emirates, said violence between Mr Abbas's security forces and supporters of Hamas showed Palestinians urgently needed to form a government that Israel, Europe and the United States would be ready to talk to.
"I think the most important thing is that on the Palestinian side, one way or another, we have a fully functioning authority with which the rest of us can deal," he said in Anakara.
"This is what I hope we will be able to agree during ... this visit. I know developments are going to be happening on the Palestinian side to that end in the next few days," he added.
Mr Blair's spokesman said a speech by Mr Abbas could indicate a way forward. Mr Abbas's options are to make further efforts to form a national unity government or to call fresh elections.
Mr Hamas has said early elections would be tantamount to a coup but Britain says Hamas, which won elections in January and controls parliament, should not control the agenda.
"You either allow Hamas to have a veto on any political process or not," Mr Blair's spokesman told reporters.
"Either it is a national unity government or if that is not possible then it is movement forward in another way in which the Palestinians can be seen to be making a choice," he said.
Britain would support a unity government provided it accepted Western demands that it recognise Israel and renounce violence, irrespective of the position of individual members of that government, the spokesman said.
Mr Blair will hold talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose government plays an important role in mediation between Israel and the Palestinians.
Mr Blair is keen to help resuscitate the Middle East peace process before he resigns next year.
British officials say he plans to relay Egyptian and Turkish ideas on ways forward to Israelis and Palestinians. Egypt is in daily direct contact with both parties and Britain has announced no specific new proposals of its own.