British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday met with the father of missing British hostess Lucie Blackman in Tokyo to pledge his support for Tim Blackman's campaign to find his daughter.

Blackman met Blair for 15 minutes at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo shortly before the British leader left for Okinawa to attend the Group of Eight meeting that starts today.

Tim Blackman is determined to find his daughter.

"He expressed his concern and asked what Lucie was like," Blackman said. "He said he was not sure what he can do to help, but it is just excellent to meet him and make the profile of the case higher."

Blackman asked Blair to urge Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Justice Minister Mamoru Nishida to direct senior members of law enforcement agencies in Japan to bring "more pressure" on the case. Blair will hold discussions with Mori in Okinawa.

Blackman emphasized that he is not criticizing the way police are handling the case but would like the scope of the investigation widened.

Blackman arrived in Tokyo last week to assist in the search for his 21-year-old daughter, who left her job as a British Airways flight attendant and arrived in Tokyo on a tourist visa in May with a British friend.

According to police, Lucie disappeared on the afternoon of July 1 after telling a friend that she was going to the beach with a man. There are suggestions that she met the man through her work at the Casablanca hostess club in Tokyo's Roppongi district.

Two days later, police said the friend received a call from a man speaking in broken English who said Lucie was undergoing religious training at a cult facility near Tokyo.

Her father, however, has firmly rejected that suggestion, along with claims that she may have had financial problems.

Blackman has been given the use of an office in Roppongi by office management firm Advanced Asset Management for the duration of his stay in Tokyo. More than 30,000 posters bearing a photo and description of Lucie are being distributed around Tokyo.

"We're dug in here and we're simply not going to allow Lucie to become another statistic," he said.

Blackman also expressed concern for other young women working in similar establishments in Japan, saying, "I want to make it known globally that Japan is no longer a safe place to visit -- if you come here to work, as a tourist or a businessman."

The investigation is being coordinated by Azabu Police Station. Anyone who might have information concerning Lucie Blackman can call (03) 3479-0110.

Lucie is 172 cm tall and has shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes. She was reportedly carrying a black bag and wearing a black dress and a necklace with a heart-shaped diamond on the day she disappeared.