Jordan Times
Sunday, September 9, 2007
King, Blair to discuss
Mideast
JT and agencies
AMMAN - His Majesty King Abdullah is scheduled to hold talks with the Quartet's
Mideast envoy Tony Blair, an informed source told The Jordan Times on Saturday.
The two sides will discuss efforts under way to push forward the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process, with focus on preparation for the US-proposed
peace meeting in the fall.
Blair, Britain's former prime minister, is the special envoy for the European
Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States - the so-called Quartet
of the stalled Middle East peace process.
During talks he held in Amman, as well as with senior officials in Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, France and Abu Dhabi, the King described the proposed meeting as a step
in the right direction, provided it addresses outstanding issues pertaining to
the Mideast conflict.
This is Blair's second mission to the region since his nomination as the
Quartet's special envoy after he left office in June.
On Thursday, Blair met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he pressed ahead
with preparations for the peace conference after talks with Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday.
The Quartet has been pushing with little success since 2003 a roadmap for peace
between the Palestinians and Israel.
In July, during his maiden visit as special envoy, Blair said he saw a "moment
of opportunity" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is expected to visit Jordan
this week, as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Lebanon.
Kouchner’s visit to Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel, beginning on
Monday, is his first. He will stop over in Beirut on Thursday.
The minister wants to "pursue talks with Lebanese parties" following a meeting
in Paris in July and a subsequent visit to the region, said foreign ministry
spokesman Frederic Desagneaux.
Lebanon's parliament is due to convene on September 25 to elect a successor to
Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud amid an ongoing dispute between the
pro-Western government and the Hizbollah-led opposition.
France in July hosted a conference of politicians from all the Lebanese factions
including Hizbollah to try to break the deadlock.
The resignation in November of six pro-Syrian ministers, five of them Shiite,
sparked the current political crisis, the country's worst since the end of the
1975-1990 civil war.
The nation has been in turmoil since the 2005 assassination of former prime
minister Rafiq Hariri, which was widely blamed on powerful neighbour Syria and
subsequently forced Damascus to end 29 years of military domination in Lebanon.