Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush met with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the White House on Thursday and discussed the way forward for Iraq and the Middle East at a difficult time for both leaders.

US President George W. Bush (R) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair shake hands following a joint press conference in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC on Dec. 7, 2006. (AFP Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    "It's a tough time and its a difficult moment for America and Great Britain and the task before us is daunting," Bush said at a joint press conference with Blair.

    Bush said he will consider the recommendations put forward by the Iraq Study Group, which released its report on Wednesday and said the situation in Iraq is "grave and deteriorating," although he said he will not accept every recommendation listed in the report.

    "I don't think Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton expect us to accept every recommendation," Bush said.

    Baker, the former secretary of state, and Hamilton, a former Congressman, have co-chaired the long-awaited report.

    For his part, Blair said the report offered a "strong way forward."

    "I think it is important now we concentrate the elements that are necessary to make sure that we succeed -- because the consequences of failure are severe," he said.

    Apart from Iraq, Bush also disclosed that Blair will soon visit the Middle East on a peace mission.

    "Prime Minister Blair informed me that he will be heading to the Middle East soon, to talk to both the Israelis and the Palestinians," Bush said.

    "I support the mission, because it's important for us to advance the cause of two states living side by side in peace and helping both parties eliminate the obstacles that prevent an agreement from being reached," Bush said.

    It is important that "we do everything we can in the wider Middle East to bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians," Blair said.

    "I believe that by moving this forward, we send a very strong signal, not just to the region but to the whole of the world that we are even-handed and just in the application of our values," Blair added.

    Bush also urged Iran to "verifiably" suspends uranium enrichment program in return for direct talks with the United States

    The meeting between Bush and Blair came amid worsening sectarian violence in Iraq and the Iraq Study Group report calling for a fundamentally different approach in the Iraq strategy.

    Blair has been the most important ally of the United States in the Iraq war and Britain has now some 9,000 soldiers stationed in Iraq.