UK's Blair heads for US to urge West Asia action

LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) British Prime Minister Tony Blair will urge U.S. President George W. Bush to embrace a wider West Asia peace policy to help tackle the insurgency in Iraq when the two leaders meet in Washington on Thursday.

Blair -- whose staunch support for America's war in Iraq has angered British voters -- arrives in the wake of a warning from Bush's choice to run the Pentagon that their troops are not winning the war there and that the next year or two will determine whether the West Asia explodes into violence.

The British prime minister will touch down in the US capital tomorro, the day a top study group is expected to publish its conclusions on how Western troops can organise an exit from the brutal and chaotic conflict in Iraq.

Blair contributed his views to the Iraq Study Group last month, when he called for Syria and Iran to be engaged in efforts to stem the violence in Iraq and to secure a broader West Asia peace settlement.

''He said Iraq should be seen as part of the whole Middle East strategy and that of course you had to deal with the issues in Iraq but you have to drive them forward as part of a Middle East strategy with particular focus on Palestine and Israel,'' Blair's spokesman said today.

He said the prime minister would not be made aware of the report's conclusions ahead of its publication.

BIPARTISAN PANEL President Bush is expected to get an early description of the bipartisan panel's findings today.

''The ... group will come to their own conclusions and we will respond to those conclusions, but we don't see this in isolation, we see it as part of a holistic approach to the Middle East as a whole,'' Blair's spokesman said.

Robert Gates, Bush's choice to run the Pentagon, said today America was not winning in Iraq and the war would determine whether the Middle East faced a ''regional conflagration.'' Blair's spokesman responded: ''The prime minister's view is that we need to ... support the democratically-elected Iraqi government, support the wishes of millions of Iraqis who voted for that government -- for a multi-ethnic government which tries to achieve a unity govt in Iraq.

''Difficult as it is, we need to see that job through. We need to help that Iraqi government extend its capability, to exercise its authority.'' The crisis in Darfur, the war in Afghanistan and proposals for action against climate change will also be on Blair's agenda during his visit, as will the stalled World Trade Organisation discussions on a development deal for poorer countries.

''On Darfur we must keep the pressure up on the Sudanese government and on President Bashir and on Afghanistan we will discuss the progress on the military campaign and the development and reconstruction campaign,'' his spokesman said.

Tomorrow evening Blair is expected to discuss climate change with Republican Senators John McCain, Pete Domenici and John Warner, as well as Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman.

He will meet Bush on Thursday, then Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Hastert, as well as Senators Bill Frist, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

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