British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday that resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict was crucial to the future of Iraq in a video conference with a U.S. bipartisan panel on Iraq strategy.

During the private meeting with the so-called Iraq Study Group (ISG) in Washington, Blair said any solution in Iraq must be part of a whole Middle East strategy, and the Israel-Palestine conflict was the top priority in the region, because extremists were exploiting it to radicalize moderate Muslims, a Downing Street spokesman said.

"He told the ISG that what he believed was needed was a plan for Iraq, and a plan for the region as a whole focused firstly on resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians," the spokesman said.

Resolving the conflict would stop moderate Muslims being stirred up and increase pressure on Iran and Syria to cooperate more widely, Blair said.

He also said Syria and Iran had to be given the "strategic choice" between being part of solution or "isolation."

The ISG, headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III, a Republican, and Lee Hamilton, a Democratic former congressman, was thought to be considering encouraging Iran and Syria to play a role in bringing stability to Iraq. And it was created in March 2006 to conduct a forward-looking, bipartisan assessment of the situation Iraq, its impact on the surrounding region, and consequences for U.S. interests.

In a major foreign policy speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet on Monday, Blair said a "whole Middle East" strategy was needed to combat terrorism and extremism in Iraq because much of it came from outside its borders.

The West should press Iran to help stem bloodshed in Iraq, said Blair, adding Iran was using Middle East "pressure points" to try to "thwart" Britain and the United States.

Blair said the West should seek "to relieve these pressure points one by one" and demand that Iran cease its support for extremists and curb its nuclear program.

Source: Xinhua