| The president of the World Bank pushed Tuesday for Palestinian economic reforms and the lifting of Israeli travel restrictions in the West Bank in exchange for an additional $500 million in desperately needed aid to the Palestinians. The visit by James Wolfensohn, his first since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2000, came as British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Jerusalem for talks Wednesday with Israeli and Palestinian officials. Blair was the most senior in a stream of international officials traveling here in recent weeks to bolster new peace efforts following the death of Yasser Arafat last month. The diplomats also hoped to build on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plans to pull out of the Gaza Strip next year. Britain is proposing a Mideast conference to promote peace prospects. However, no date has been set, and Israel has said it will not attend. |