Blair sees hope after first talks with Middle East leaders
Tony Blair said he saw a "moment of opportunity" in the Middle East
as he met Israeli and Palestinian leaders yesterday.
In his new role as an international envoy, Mr Blair met the
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and his prime minister, Salam
Fayyad, in Ramallah, and was due to have dinner last night with the
Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, in Jerusalem.
His visit as representative of the Quartet of Middle East negotiators
- the EU, the US, the UN and Russia - is the first of many expected in
coming months.
Mr Blair did not meet the Hamas Islamist movement, which won
Palestinian elections more than a year ago. Last month, Mr Abbas sacked
the Hamas-led coalition government after it seized control of security
in Gaza following months of near civil war. Israel is opposed to any
talks with Hamas until it renounces violence, recognises Israel and
signs up to previous peace agreements.
Mr Blair said there was unlikely to be a quick breakthrough in
long-stalled peace talks. "Even from the conversations I have had I
think there is a sense of possibility but whether that sense of
possibility can be translated into something, that is something that
needs to be worked at and thought about over time," he said, after
meeting the Israeli president, Shimon Peres.
Mr Peres, 83, said he believed that there was a real chance for his
success. "I don't underrate the difficulties, there are many ...
Basically I feel there is a serious window of opportunity to advance
peace." Israeli officials were reported as saying that Mr Blair talked
with them about the regional conference proposed by the US president,
George Bush, and expected to take place in September.
Israel has said it would take part in the meeting, but refuses to
negotiate with the Palestinians now about final status issues such as
the fate of Jerusalem, borders and Palestinian refugees, relating to an
ultimate peace agreement. Hamas is not expected to be invited to the
conference.
In a sign of continued tension between the rival Palestinian
factions, three university students in Nablus, in the West Bank, were
injured yesterday when Palestinian security forces opened fire after a
fight broke out between Hamas and Fatah supporters. One of the injured
was hit in the head and was in a critical condition.
The Guardian ,UK
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