Blair: Mideast peace process might move backward

BRUSSELS, April 1 -- Middle East Quartet representative Tony Blair warned on Wednesday that the peace process could move backward if there is no progress in the following months.

"If there is no significant progress in the year 2009, we face a situation of very great jeopardy for the peace process," he told reporters after a meeting with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Union (EU) commissioner for external relations.

Blair said there must be a credible political negotiation on the two-state solution and at the same time improvement on the ground in the Palestinian territories.

He said there is a need for major transformational change in the West Bank, which will allow the Palestinians to run their own territory. At the same time there must be proper capacity to protect Israel.

A different policy on Gaza, which will lift the blockade and help the people, is also needed, he said.

Blair said past experience has shown that, in the Middle East, if there is no progress, the situation can move backward very rapidly.

"Certainly the next six months will be completely critical in determining whether the process can move forward or whether it will slip back," he said.

Ferrero-Waldner said the continued closure by Israel of crossings in Gaza is a matter of concern. The people in Gaza are suffering enormously from the closure. She said Israel¡¯s tight control of flow of cash into Gaza has also led to delays of EU payments to vulnerable families and pensioners in Gaza.

She asked the new Israeli government led by hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu to lift the security blockades in Gaza and commit itself to a two-state solution.

Blair said it is time to make critical decisions to make things happen as there is a new U.S. administration, which is more willing to be engaged in the Middle East, and a new Israeli government.