Last update - 00:00 22/07/2007
Palestinians: Blair, Abbas to meet Tuesday in West Bank
By News Agencies
Tony Blair will Tuesday hold his first meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as the new Middle East envoy for the Quartet of peace brokers, a PA official said.
The meeting will take place at Abbas' headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Blair and Abbas have met in the past, during Blair's term as British prime minister.
Blair is expected to arrive in the region Monday for a two-day visit, and has also scheduled talks with Israeli leaders. The former premier officially took up the position of envoy last week, representing the United Nations, United States, Russia and the European Union.
He was also due in Amman on Monday for talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib on efforts to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The discussions were to take place on the eve of a meeting in Washington between Jordan's King Abdullah II and U.S. President George W. Bush.
The Jordanian-U.S. summit was expected to focus on Bush's latest proposal for convening an international conference in the fall.