The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has given evidence this afternoon to a US inquiry into policy on Iraq.
Mr Blair's official spokesman said tonight that he had repeatedly made the point to the Iraq Study Group that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was central to strategy in the Middle East.
During the one-hour session, Mr Blair insisted that the single biggest issue in getting moderate Muslim countries to support the new Iraq was progress in Palestine.
He said such movement would also 'put it up to' Iran and Syria, according to the spokesman.
'By moving ahead in Israel and Palestine we believe you remove the central issue that they exploit to stop progress,' the spokesman said.
The Ministry of Defence in London today named four British soldiers killed in southern Iraq on Sunday.
They include a female intelligence officer and they bring British military losses in Iraq to 125.
Bush aloof on Iran & Syria
The US President, George W Bush, earlier distanced himself from suggestions that his administration should talk directly to Iran and Syria in its efforts to solve problems in Iraq and the wider Middle East.
Mr Bush said he would consider any recommendations made in the forthcoming report of the Iraq Study Group, which is believed to favour dialogue with the governments in Tehran and Damascus.
But speaking after talks at the White House with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, which focused on Iran's nuclear programme, Mr Bush said Iran was a threat to world peace.
He said that the US was only prepared to enter talks if Iran halted its nuclear enrichment activities.
