Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, greets U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before the start of their meeting at No 10, Downing Street, London, Friday Feb. 4, 2005. (AP Photo)

    LONDON, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Downing Street on Friday, saying he looked forward to working with her on key foreign issues, especially Iraq and the Middle East.

    Rice's visit to London is part of a week-long tour of Europe and the Middle East, her first overseas trip as the US secretary of state, which is aimed at repairing relations with key American allies after the divisions over Iraq.

    Their 90-minute meeting would cover Iraq, the Middle East and other subjects, Blair and Rice said before the meeting. Blair saidhe expected "an excellent and constructive meeting, as ever."

    Rice thanked Blair for Britain's support in Iraq and the peace process between Israelis and the Palestinians. "We have lots of work to do," she added.

    After the meeting with Blair, Rice went on to have talks with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, before they hosted a joint press conference later on the day.

    Rice's meetings in London with Blair and Straw also covered concerns about Iran's nuclear program. The United States accused Tehran of developing nuclear weapons, an accusation that was fiercely denied by Iran.

    Britain, together with France and Germany, has been spearheading efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the Iran nuclear crisis.

    Rice's whistle-stop tour, ahead of US President George W. Bush's visit to Europe later this month, includes stops in Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey, Italy and Poland. She is expected to round offthe trip by making a major speech on US-EU relations in Paris. Enditem