Quartet Representative Tony Blair called today for more international "support for Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the state-building effort." He stressed that these efforts should continue and intensify in the context of seeking a negotiated two-state solution.

Tony Blair's remarks were made at a Washington event hosted by the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), attended by around 200 Administration officials, foreign ambassadors and members of the Arab-American community. He called for Palestinians to be supported in their efforts to develop and build institutions in not only Areas A and B but in Area C as well.

Tony Blair, who as a representative of the Middle East Quartet of the UN, the United States, Russia and the European Union works with the Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community's effort to secure peace, said: "I am and always have been an advocate of Palestinian statehood" and pointedly asked "what's the alternative?"