Blair urges Arafat to call off bombers

Tony Blair this afternoon delivered a strong call to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to rein back the suicide bombers in order to give peace talks a chance.

The Prime Minister, speaking to reporters as he headed to meet George Bush in Texas, said a curb on the bombers was one of two essential pre-conditions for peace talks to begin. The other, he said, was for Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to pull his forces back from the occupied territories.

Without those moves, Mr Blair made clear, there will be little chance of the mission of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who goes to the region next week, producing progress.

Mr Blair conceded that there was little room for optimism. But he said: "We do not have the luxury of giving up. We have to press on and do what we can for the sake of the people there and for the sake of the security of the region."

That, it is clear, is the key message the Prime Minister will ram home to Mr Bush during their two days of talks on the President's ranch deep in the heart of Texas, near the small township of Crawford.

Mr Blair welcomed yesterday's landmark speech from the President, with its policy about-turn, calling on Israel to withdraw its forces. But he said that the pullback on Palestinian terrorism matched by a pullback of Israeli tanks was the "minimum agreement necessary" between the two sides if any progress was to be made.

Mr Blair side-stepped questions as to whether he would have preferred Colin Powell to have been put into play earlier. He also conceded that one of the problems that would have to be resolved was whether Chairman Arafat, under tight siege by Israeli forces, had the power to block the suicide bombings even if he wished to do so.

Mr Sharon today said the military offensive would continue, and Israel Radio said the country's forces were speeding up their occupation of West Bank cities, hoping to cover as much ground as possible before international pressure compels them to withdraw.

Mr Blair, still wearing the formal black attire in which he had attended the Queen Mother's lying-in-state, then put in a series of telephone calls to other world leaders, including President Chirac of France, President Putin of Russia and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak as well as Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der of Germany to brief them on his plans for the US talks.

Mr Blair had earlier called on Mr Bush to be yet more resolute to resolve the conflict, reaffirming that the deadly clash between Israel and the Palestinians required "an external force" to bring it to an end.

In an interview with the US television network NBC, he stressed that only a return to a political process could end the cycle of violence. And he said a peace deal must involve the Arab world, recognising "explicitly" the right of Israel to exist in security, alongside the setting up of a Palestinian state.

The President, meanwhile, lavished praise on the Prime Minister as a close ally, declaring: "I treasure his counsel."

In an interview with ITN's Sir Trevor McDonald, to be broadcast tonight, the President admitted he had simply "informed" the Prime Minister about the U-turn in his landmark speech, a few hours before it was delivered. But he called Mr Blair "one of my closest friends, personal friends, amongst the world leaders", and added: "He speaks clearly about the truth, and that's one of the reasons why I like his advice."

Mr Bush also stepped up his criticism of Mr Arafat for failing to halt suicide bombings, warning: "Since I've been President, the man hasn't performed."

But he repeated his support for a Palestinian state, and said Israel's construction of illegal settlements on the West Bank and in Gaza should stop and that the "humiliation" of the Palestinians should end.

Mr Bush wants to use the summit to secure British backing for possible American military action against Iraq, but it was clear that Mr Blair attached a higher priority to resolving the Palestinian question.

Mr Arafat and his cabinet issued a statement early today unconditionally accepting the renewed US effort, but cabinet minister Saeb Erekat rejected Mr Bush's criticism of Mr Arafat as "unjustified and unacceptable".

While invoking a "right to defend ourselves" against "this aggression against our people, against our towns, our refugee camps", the Cabinet statement said: "From our side, we are committed without conditions to the declaration of President Bush."

Mr Sharon agreed to allow Anthony Zinni, the US special envoy to Israel, to visit the Palestinian leader today in his besieged Ramallah headquarters.

Also on the summit agenda will be peacekeeping in Afghanistan, and the need to keep moderate Arab states on board the global alliance against terrorism.

Mr Blair will raise the issue of high import tariffs on steel from Britain and Europe. The tax, introduced by Mr Bush, is designed to protect jobs at outdated US steel mills, but it is expected to trigger retaliatory EU sanctions.