Jordan Times
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Khatib says Blair Mideast tour ‘vital’
Tony Blair oN Monday embarked on his first visit to the Middle East as special international envoy, consulting Israeli and
Jordanian ministers on ways to revitalise the stagnant peace process.
He jetted into Israel after morning talks in Amman, where the former British prime minister held what were dubbed “positive
and constructive” discussions with Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib.
“Mr Blair very much appreciated Jordan’s pledge to work closely with him” in his efforts to reactivate the moribund Middle
East peace process, said Blair spokesman Matthew Doyle after the one-hour meeting, without elaborating.
After arriving at Jerusalem’s luxury King David Hotel, which Jewish militants bombed when it was the British authorities’
headquarters in 1946, Blair left for a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
“We attach a lot of importance to your mission. We must take advantage of this critical juncture to achieve a breakthrough,”
Livni said in a statement after the talks.
“The path to a Palestinian state is through Palestinians fighting terrorism and setting up stable infrastructure for a
responsible state,” she added.
The two met privately for an hour-and-a-half with aides, said foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev, calling the discussions
“good”.
Local media reports speculated that Israeli officials will insist that Blair stick to his mandate in this respect and not
deviate by engaging in political issues that could see Israel forced to make tough decisions.
The Quartet has said he will “help create viable and lasting government institutions representing all Palestinians, a
robust economy, and a climate of law and order for the Palestinian people”. Blair was also scheduled on the first day of his
fact-finding mission to meet Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who as Israeli prime minister attended the failed peace talks at
Camp David with the Palestinians in 2000.
On Tuesday, he will meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.
But Hamas charged that Blair would fail if he snubbed the hardline movement, which won parliamentary elections in January
2006, routing Abbas’ Fateh party, and seized the Gaza Strip on June 15 in a bloody takeover.
“Ignoring Hamas, and as a consequence, a big slice of the Palestinian people, will make Tony Blair’s mission useless,”
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in Gaza.
Blair’s spokesman has ruled out any meetings with Hamas, to whom he is not authorised to talk under his mandate.
Two members of the Quartet, the European Union and the United States, blacklist Hamas as terrorists, while Russia and the
United Nations do not.
British Minister for the Middle East Kim Howells, who was also in Amman on Monday, predicted a “difficult task” for Blair
as special envoy.
“But if anybody can achieve success, I think it’s going to be Tony Blair... The biggest task is to involve all regional
players in peace,” including Syria and Iran, Howells said.
Khatib described Blair’s first visit as “vital for the Palestinians, Israel and the entire region”. He told AFP he had high
hopes and reiterated Amman’s call for a just solution aimed at restoring Palestinian rights.
Blair’s successor in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, also pledged that his government will offer “whatever help”
it can.
Blair brokered an agreement in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants in 1998 that largely ended decades of
sectarian violence and brought about a power-sharing government, and he hopes he will make a difference in the Middle East.
His appointment in late June was hailed by Israel and some Palestinians close to the moderate Abbas but was blasted by Hamas,
which sees him as too close to both Israel and Washington.
His predecessor James Wolfensohn quit in frustration in May 2006 amid failure by the Quartet to implement a “roadmap” for
peace between Israel and the Palestinians, creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.