British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the start of final status talks between Palestinians and Israelis and said Britain was ready to help their search for peace on November 9.

Blair told Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who is visiting London and held talks with Blair on Tuesday, that he believed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was making genuine efforts to reach agreement.

"The prime minister welcomed progress (in the talks) and believes Barak is sincere in wanting peace," a spokesman for Blair said.

"He(Blair) said we stood ready to do what we could to help," the spokesman said.

After the meeting, Arafat said that he briefed Blair on obstacles still facing the two sides, who launched their final status talks in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday.

"We explained all the difficulties that we face, and certainly there will be British, European, American and Arab efforts to help us surmount them and push the peace process forward," Arafat said.

Arafat arrived in London on Tuesday from Paris. He was scheduled to sign a gas exploration deal here in London with BG, the British Gas Company.