Tony Blair's Middle East peace summit in London yesterday was dominated by Syria's involvement in Lebanon.

Participants including America, France, and Russia criticised continued Syrian involvement in the affairs of its smaller neighbour.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, called on Syria to pull its troops and security services out and to stop its support for Iraqi insurgents and militant Palestinian groups.
 
She said that there was "firm evidence" of Syrian involvement in last week’s suicide bomb attack against a nightclub in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, the conference ended with a set of goals agreed by the parties involved.

"We have got a script that is clearer today than ever before," Tony Blair said.

The prime minister went on to describe yesterday’s meeting as laying "the foundation stones" of a Palestinian state.

And in an interview with the Guardian today, Blair says there is now a "ripple of change" in the Middle East.

He called for final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to be held by the end of this year.