"Blair sets a general timeframe for exit." 

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair reluctantly promised Thursday to resign within a year, hoping that revealing a general timeframe for his departure will appease critics who are calling for him to step down.

 "I would have preferred to do this in my own way," Blair said. He refused to set a specific departure date, but said the annual Labour Party conference this month would be his last. The next conference is scheduled for September 2007.

"The precise timetable has to be left to me and has to be done in the proper way," he said.

Blair, who took office in 1997 and once commanded Labour with an unassailable authority, now appears to be at the mercy of demands from its restive lawmakers. It was not immediately clear whether his new exit strategy will be detailed and speedy enough to satisfy them.

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