British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew into Israel today for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on reviving the Middle East peace process following the death of Yasser Arafat.
Mr Blair, who wants to host a Middle East conference in London in February, arrived in Tel Aviv after paying a surprise visit to Iraq in a bid to boost prospects for Iraqi elections next month.
He was due to meet Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem tomorrow and hold talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestine leaders Mr Mahmoud Abbas - frontrunner in a January 9th election to choose Arafat's successor - and Mr Ahmed Qurie.
Mr Blair's 24-hour visit will be the highest-level diplomatic mission to the Palestinian territories since Arafat died of an undisclosed illness in a military hospital near Paris on November 11th.
He will confer with Palestinian leaders in the half-demolished Muqata compound where the Israeli army confined Arafat in his final years.
Israel and the United States viewed Arafat as an obstacle to peace, accusing him of stirring violence in a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000. Arafat always denied the allegation.
Mr Blair has made reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts a foreign policy priority for London while promising to strive to ensure that US President George W. Bush remains engaged.
Mr Sharon has long resisted the idea of international Middle East conferences, fearing they would be a forum for putting pressure on the Jewish state to make what he sees as dangerous concessions on security.
During his visit, Mr Blair is likely to urge Mr Sharon to smooth the Palestinian ballot as promised by pulling troops from Palestinian cities, and press the two sides to coordinate the Gaza pullout as a step towards peace talks.
Mr Blair has been a vocal supporter of a Middle East peace "road map" sponsored by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations that charts reciprocal steps towards creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The peace plan, adopted last year, has been stalled by constant violence.