Britain's Blair in Turkey for Wasia peace drive

ANKARA, Dec 15: British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Turkey today on the first stop of a West Asia trip, seeking the support of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to help revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Blair, who has set great store on resuscitating the peace process before he resigns next year, will visit a number of countries on his trip to gather opinions and convey them to Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

He sees Turkey as a moderate Muslim ally and wants to stress support for its bid to join the European Union after the bloc decided this week to partially freeze accession talks because of Ankara's failure to normalise trade with EU member Cyprus.

His trip coincided with tensions reaching their highest level in a decade in the Palestinian territories, triggering new gunbattles between rival factions and fuelling fears the Palestinians were on the verge of civil war.

Blair believes he can act as a valuable interlocutor in the region, a view disputed by some Middle East experts who say he is discredited over Iraq and his stance on the July-August war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

''We are not claiming we have a unique role but we are judged to have a facilitating and helpful role,'' Blair's spokesman told reporters on the prime minister's plane as it flew to Ankara.

''We are in listening mode ... but we also are in the business of underlining our commitment to work with moderate Muslim countries to try and move the (Middle East) process forward,'' he said.

IRAQ VIOLENCE

Blair believes a Middle East settlement is critical to defusing the violence in Iraq, an issue that looks set to dominate the legacy of his 10-year premiership. He wants to be able to tell the Palestinians what they can expect in terms of financial and political support if they agree to form a government that Israel can negotiate with.

Talks on forming a unity government are deadlocked between moderate President Mahmoud Abbas and a Hamas-led administration that the West has boycotted, cutting off aid to the Palestinians, because of its refusal to recognise Israel.

Blair would also like to have an ''arc of moderation'' in the region to counter any threats from countries such as Iran and to help stem the insurgency in Iraq, British officials said.

Some West Asia analysts said Blair's clout had been diminished by the Iraq war, his refusal to urge an immediate Israeli ceasefire in the war against Hezbollah, and his planned imminent departure from office.

Arab leaders feel the United States calls the shots in international policy making towards the Middle East.

''I don't see (Blair) as having sufficient leverage to make a significant difference,'' said Rosemary Hollis of British think-tank Chatham House.

An Ankara-based EU diplomat said Blair wanted to exploit Erdogan's increasing influence in the West Asia.

''Turkey has under Erdogan taken a more active step in getting involved in regional politics. Turkey wants stable neighbours,'' said the diplomat, asking not to be named.

A Turkish government source said Erdogan would brief Blair on his recent visits to Iran and Syria.

The West fears Iran has a secret programme to build nuclear weapons and accuses both Tehran and Damascus of destabilising the West Asia.

Officials described Blair's West Asia tour as ''comprehensive'' but kept advance details of his itinerary secret for security reasons.

REUTERS