WASHINGTON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Washington for talks with President George W. Bush dominated by the the quest for Middle East peace after the death of Yasser Arafat.
The British prime minister went straight to the White House for a dinner with Bush before they hold formal talks and a press conference on Friday.
Reflecting the close relationship between the two, Blair is the first foreign leader to be received at the White House since Bush's re-election success last week.
But there will be little time for celebration as their talks coincide with Arafat's funeral in Cairo, which has thrown a new spotlight on the deadlocked Middle East peace process, and the US offensive on insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
Blair faces intense domestic pressure to reap some benefits from his support for the US-led war in Iraq, and hinted before his departure that the Middle East was where he expected to find this.
"Peace in the Middle East must be the international community's highest priority," Blair said in a statement following Arafat's death.
Blair reaffirmed a call for action, saying that "the goal of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel is one that we must continue to work tirelessly to achieve".
The United States offered some encouragement in Bush's statement of condolences after the death of the iconic Palestinian leader who has been marginalised during the Bush presidency.
"The death of Yasser Arafat is a significant moment in Palestinian history," Bush said.
"For the Palestinian people, we hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors.
"During the period of transition that is ahead, we urge all in the region and throughout the world to join in helping make progress toward these goals and toward the ultimate goal of peace."
Many questions remain about the US attitude so long as a new Palestinian leadership is not in place.
But on the plane to Washington, Blair's spokesman said the prime minister saw a "new era" for the peace process.
"There is a moment and that moment is to send a signal to the region we are serious about" peace in the Middle East, he told journalists.
"If the world sees President Bush and the prime minister saying they are very serious on this issue and we are committed to it, that helps," the spokesman said.
For the past year and a half, Blair has pledged to make the revival of the peace process a personal priority. He has also tried to persuade Bush to do more to combat global warming since Washington rejected the Kyoto protocol.
With recent British military casualties in Iraq helping to make the war there more unpopular than ever at home, according to one opinion poll this week, Blair's close ties to Bush are causing him problems ahead of a likely British election next year.
However, in an interview shortly before his departure Thursday, Blair stressed that this was merely "part of my job".
"The relationship between Britain and the US is fantastically important," Blair told British television channel GMTV.
"You know, I think there always is, and always should be, a situation in which the British prime minister and the American president get on well together. I regard it as part of my job."
11/12/2004 - 01:01 GMT - AFP