Tony Blair said he �expected the Middle East peace process to find �a way forward� in the next few weeks. In a rare return to Westminster, the former prime minister said that the month of June would be �critical� to efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Tony Blair said he expected the Middle East peace process to find "a way forward" in the next few weeks.

In a rare return to Westminster, the former prime minister said that the month of June would be "critical" to efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Blair, now Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, was giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

He claimed success in assisting development in the Palestinian territories since taking up his role in summer 2007, but suggested the recent political situation had been an obstacle. He expressed hope, however, that the commitment to peace from US President Barack Obama, the Israeli government and the Arab world could bear fruit.

"I think the desire at the present time, frankly, is to see if we can get this going again," he told MPs. "I think June will be a very critical month in this whole business."

Mr Blair predicted that Mr Obama would use a speech in Egypt on Thursday to signal the extent of the new American administration's "serious undertaking" in the Middle East.

He said other discussions were also taking place.

"I think at some point over the next few weeks there will emerge a way forward for this," he said.

"There is a lot of thinking that will be done by the Israeli government internally, by the Arab world, by ourselves as a quartet and the American administration, and I think people want to see is there a positive way forward we can achieve here."

Mr Blair, who left Downing Street in June 2007, said he now spends "a week to 10 days" each month in the Middle East.

Asked about his achievements, he pointed to improvements in housing, tourism, mobile telephones, and access and movements for the Palestinian people.

He added: "I can say that there's been significant progress made, but, frankly, in the past nine months it's been extremely difficult whilst there has been a situation of virtual political paralysis on the Israeli side, the transition in the US and then, of course, the divisions on the Palestinian side."

He added that there was now a "new sense of momentum towards peace", with the White House "fully committed" to the region, a settled Israeli government and the Arab world demonstrating "a renewed desire for partnership".

Mr Blair said peace in Israel and the Palestinian territories helps improve stability in the wider region, such as Syria and Lebanon, and "it gets harder for anyone, in this case the Iranian leadership, to impose a sense of conflict or inevitability of conflict on the region."