British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush have voiced confidence over new opportunities for peace in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the European Union will meet later this month with Israel and Arab neighbors to discuss Iraq and the road map peace plan. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

US President George. W. Bush and visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at a joint press conference in the White House on Friday, pushed the Middle East peace process to the back burner as they voiced readiness to help Palestine build democracy.

"Soon the Palestinians will choose a new president. This is thefirst step in creating lasting democratic political institutions through which is a free Palestinian people will elect local and national leader," Bush said.

"We are committed to the success of these elections and we stand ready to help," Bush said.

Bush said he looks forward to the new Palestinian leadership tobe committed to fighting terror and the "cause of democratic reform."

By vowing to mobilize the international community to help revive the Palestinian economy, Bush reiterated the US goal of building "a democratic, independent and viable state for the Palestinian people."

Bush said by helping the Palestinian government reform its political systems and build democratic institutions, the United States will work with Israel and Palestinian leaders to complete the disengagement plan from Gaza and part of the West Bank put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"These steps, if successful, will lay the foundation for progress in implementing the road map and then lead to final status negotiations," Bush said.

The road map peace plan, proposed by the United States, the EU,the United Nations and Russia, has been stalled because the UnitedStates refused to deal with Arafat in the past two years.

For his part, Blair, who has termed the Middle East peace process as the highest priority, now listed the Middle East peace process as only the third major issue facing Britain and the United States after Afghanistan and Iraq.

"And the third thing is, as the president said a moment or two ago, we meet at a crucial time where it is important that we revitalize and reinvigorate the search for a genuine, lasting and just peace in the Middle East," Blair said.

Blair, who has been accused of being a poodle of the United States, echoed Bush by calling for building democratic institutions in Palestine, helping Palestine hold elections and supporting Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan.

This was a clear setback for the British prime minister who said on Thursday that the Middle East peace process was the "highest priority" for the international community.

"Peace in the Middle East must be the international community'shighest priority," Blair said in a statement on Thursday followingArafat's death, stressing that the goal of "a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel is one that we must continue to work tirelessly to achieve."

"We will do whatever we can working with the US and EU to help the parties reach a fair and durable settlement," Blair said then.

Blair, the closest ally of the United States, arrived in Washington on Thursday evening for talks with Bush. He was the first foreign leader to visit the White House after Bush won re-election on Nov. 2.