Blair: 'Middle East peace deal possible'

Updated 11.37 Fri Jan 11 2008

Keywords: US President George W Bush, Palestinians, Israel, Tony Blair

Tony Blair said he is "cautiously optimistic" that a peace settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians can be struck in 2008.

The former prime minister, who is a peace envoy to the Middle East Quartet, was speaking after a meeting in Jerusalem with US President George W Bush.

"Sure, it is absolutely possible to have a peace deal by the end of the year if people want to make it happen" - Tony Blair

Mr Bush, who has come to the end of his tour of the region, made a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Friday.

He said earlier that he thought his goal of an agreement before his term of office ended next January was possible.

Asked if he agreed with Mr Bush, Mr Blair said: "Sure, it is absolutely possible to have a peace deal by the end of the year if people want to make it happen.

But to achieve this, he said those involved had to be prepared "to have the courage to take the difficult decisions to make the difficult compromises".

Mr Blair's comments come following two days of separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.