LONDON, Mar. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that Palestine and the international community have agreed on the practical steps needed to create a viable Palestinian state after they met for a meeting on backing the reforms of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

    Delegates from the PNA and the international community had reached agreement in three areas of governance, security and economic and social development, said Blair, who hosted the one-day meeting that gathered US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, foreign ministers and senior officials from some 23 nations,as well as top envoys from six international organizations including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

    "What we have today is an agreement not just on behalf of the Palestinian (National) Authority, which has got to usher in such astate, but also on behalf of the whole of the international community as to the practical steps, the foundation stones necessary to create that viable state," Blair told a joint news conference with Abbas at the end of the meeting, which focused on helping the PNA to prepare for Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank and get it ready for eventual statehood.

    "What we have achieved today is an international consensus thata viable Palestinian state needs contiguous territory and viable institutions," Blair told reporters.

    On last week's deadly suicide bombing that killed 5 Israelis and wounded dozens more in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, Blair said terrorists would not succeed in destroying plans for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

    Abbas, who said earlier in the day that the PNA has decided to unify its security services and are committed to honoring its obligations under the US-backed Roadmap peace plan, described the London meeting as "positive" and "fruitful".

    The one-day event has provided an opportunity for Palestine to win financial and political support from the international community, the Palestinian leader said, reiterating his pledge to reform the Palestinian security apparatus.

    Palestinians would continue to commit themselves to the Middle East peace process, to the Roadmap and to a cease-fire agreed lastmonth between Palestine and Israel, Abbas told reporters. Enditem