DUBLIN. May 4: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Monday thanked Ireland for supporting an independent Palestinian state and urged its continued support in the Middle East peace process, reports Reuters.

"We need international support. we need the support of our friends all over the world to push forward the peace process and try to safeguard it. We need your support in this particular aspect." Arafat, looking frail but cheerful, told reporters after a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.

"We’d like to see peace prevail both in Ireland and in Palestine." Arafat, in Ireland as part of a tour of European capitals, told reporters through an Interpreter.

Ahern, pledging greater involvement by Ireland in a Palestinianian state, said the hour-long talks had reviewed the problems faced by the Palestinianian people, including economic, political and social issues.