Last update - 00:00 06/09/2006
Report: British PM Tony Blair to visit Middle East
By News Agencies
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will visit Beirut on Monday for talks with Lebanese leaders on a United Nations brokered truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas, a Lebanese official said on Wednesday.
"Mr. Blair will discuss the Israeli blockade on Lebanon and the repercussions of the war," the official, who asked not to be identified, said.
Blair's Downing Street office said the prime minister planned to visit the Middle East shortly, but declined to give further details.
Blair came under fire at home during the 34-day war for lining up with the United States in refusing to back Lebanon's demands for an immediate ceasefire.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema will also visit the region.
He is leaving Thursday on a two-day mission to the Middle East, during which he will visit Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.
The mission constitutes D'Alema's third diplomatic mission to the region in recent weeks, amid Italy's intense diplomatic efforts in the Middle East following the Lebanon crisis.
D'Alema will meet with Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib and King Abdullah II in Amman on Thursday before traveling to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Later that day, D'Alema is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
On Friday, D'Alema will hold talks with his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, before leaving the region.
D'Alema and Italian Premier Romano Prodi have been deeply involved in defusing the Lebanese crisis, and with 2, 500 troops, Italy is the biggest contributor to the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
D'Alema visited Jerusalem in late July and Beirut in mid-August.