A new international conference will be organized to promote peace in the Near East, supported by the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The idea was first voiced by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair as he visited both leaders in their residences.

Blair suggested holding a one-day conference in London in March addressing the Palestinians’ needs in the political and security spheres without putting pressure on them to comply with Israel’s demands.

"My purpose is to be of help to the Palestinian Authority and its people so that we can get back to the ’road map’ negotiations toward the two-state solution and the viable Palestinian state at the end of it that we all want to see," Blair said in a joint news conference with Abbas in Ramallah.

British Prime Minister called the moment crucial for the solution of the Near Eastern problem. The Palestinians will hold elections of president of the Palestinian Authority on Jan. 9 where Abbas is likely to win. In Israel, Sharon tries to move ahead with the plan to move Israeli settlements out of Gaza and from the West Bank.