UK Prime Minister arrives in United Arab Emirates

The Prime Minister arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today on the final leg of a Middle East tour.

Mr Blair's first trip to the Gulf state will take in talks on the Middle East peace process as well as on the growing business links which have made it the UK's ninth biggest trade partner - taking more British exports than China.

Mr Blair's tour has already taken him from the European Council summit in Brussels to Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Israel and the West Bank.

The PM's official spokesman said Mr Blair would want to build on the progress made during the visit in the New Year, and did not rule out a return trip to the region before he steps down as Prime Minister.

"This is very much part of an ongoing process which he will build on in the New Year,'' said the spokesman.

"Nobody under-estimates the difficulties, but there is an effort going on to understand the position of the other side which is qualitatively different from before.''

Mr Blair is expected to explain his thinking in a speech tomorrow in which he will outline what he sees as a "strategic choice" for countries in the region between openness, tolerance and moderation on the one hand and isolation, confrontation and extremism on the other.

Mr Blair's spokesman said the PM saw the UAE as "an exemplar of what the Middle East as a whole could become - an economic success story."

The Prime Minister concludes his week-long tour tomorrow.

Stories from the PM's tour:

By 10 Downing Street