Blair praises Sharon's 'restraint'

Tony Blair has praised Ariel Sharon's "restraint" in the face of recent Middle East terrorist killings.

The Prime Minister held talks with his Israeli counterpart about the continuing conflict with the Palestinians.

Mr Sharon stopped off at Downing Street en route to discussions in Washington with George W Bush.

A Downing Street spokesman said the meeting lasted 70 minutes.

Mr Sharon told Mr Blair he was prepared to make compromises for peace, but not prepared to compromise the safety of Israeli citizens, nor the existence of the state of Israel.

Mr Blair said he was a friend of Israel and did not intend to lecture either side to the conflict on how to move forward.

He also voiced admiration for the "restraint" Mr Sharon had shown in the face of recent terrorist killings.

Mr Blair stressed the importance of moving forward on the basis of the Mitchell report and the need to set out a realistic sequence of events in keeping with the Tenet plan.

In May, former US senator George Mitchell unveiled a 28-point plan setting out a series of steps for ending the conflict in the Middle East.

US CIA director George Tenet brokered the latest ceasefire, which came into effect 10 days ago, although since then more Palestinians and Israelis have died in continuing bloody exchanges.