British PM pushes Israeli-Palestinian talks

"It's very easy to be pessimistic ... but I do believe that with goodwill and the right leadership it [a peace deal] can be done."

Tony Blair, British prime minister

British Minister Tony Blair arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah yesterday hoping to push for a renewal of stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

The two men shook hands before entering Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office, but made no statement.

Ahead the talks, Blair said it was crucial to get the two sides back to the table despite bitterness on both sides following Israel's month-long war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Blair at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday that while peacemaking efforts were at a very preliminary stage, he was hopeful the two sides could make progress if they would re-engage.

"It's very easy to be pessimistic ... but I do believe that with goodwill and the right leadership it can be done," he said. "It's very important that we see what we can do to re-energize this process."

Long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks hit a new obstacle in January when the Islamic Hamas group swept a Palestinian parliamentary election.

Israel, backed by the US, Britain and other Western countries, has refused to recognize the Hamas-led government and harsh sanctions have plunged many Palestinians deeper into poverty.

A sign of progress came on Saturday with Olmert's announcement that he planned to meet Abbas and work with him to push forward the international "road map" peace plan. He said his top priority would be securing the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants with links to the ruling Hamas party.

Olmert effusive in his praise of Blair, whose Middle East visit comes as he faces intense political troubles at home.

But the British prime minister was likely to get a chillier reception in the West Bank. A group of Palestinian intellectuals said last week week that he should be barred from the territory because of his support for Israel during the fighting with Hezbollah.

"Tony Blair is persona non grata in our countries, and his visit to Ramallah is a serious provocation to popular Palestinian sentiments, because he comes here to wash his hands of the blood of the Lebanese in Palestinian waters," the group said in a statement published on Thursday in the daily Palestinian al-Ayyam newspaper.

"He is a man of violence and a war-maker," the statement said.