Aboul Gheit and Al-Khatib in Israel today to present Arab initiative CAIRO: Amid much curiosity and anticipation, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid his first visit to the region in his new role as the Quartet envoy for peace. After a quick trip to Amman, Blair landed Tuesday in the disputed territories that will take up the majority of his time after a decade as UK Prime Minister. He had met with newly appointed Israeli President Shimon Peres the previous day. Blair met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank before heading to Jerusalem to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The envoy s spokesman told reporters that Blair was in very much a listening mode . [he had come] to listen, learn and reflect. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Blair that her country attached a lot of importance to [his] mission. We must take advantage of this critical juncture to achieve a breakthrough. She added that the Palestinians could only achieve statehood through . fighting terrorism and setting up stable infrastructure for a responsible state. Livni also stressed that the international community must distinguish between moderates and extremists. She warned against giving Hamas any sort of legitimacy, whether directly or indirectly, as long as they didn't comply with the requests of the international community. After meeting with Peres, Blair said, 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. Although special envoy for the Quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) as a whole, Blair's mandate is restricted to assisting Palestinians develop their infrastructure and economy. The appointment of Blair was met with much skepticism in the region, considering his close ties and unwavering support for the Bush administration during his tenure as Prime Minister, his active role in the Iraq war and his pro-Israeli, pro-American stance. Former Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Bassiouny told The Daily Star Egypt that "Blair is now a representative of the Quartet, and he will be presenting their offers and carrying across their viewpoint. "I don t believe Mr. Blair has any chance at all of pushing forward the peace process, Middle East-based political commentator Linda Heard told The Daily Star Egypt in a previous interview. "Frankly given Mr. Blair's unabashed and unashamed sycophancy towards the Bush administration, whose wishes he consistently put before the interests of his own country, the only job he deserved was flipping burgers in the nearest McDonalds where he could wrap himself in the American flag to his heart s content without giving anyone anything more than indigestion, she added. Heard also said that the current situation in both Israel and Palestine would make any peace efforts that much harder. "This is too little too late and, in any case, there are no peace partners, she said. "Olmert with the lowest approval rating of any sitting Israeli Prime Minister isn t trusted by his people and neither is Mahmoud Abbas, who is viewed by most Palestinians as too cozy with the West, while the caretaker Palestinian Prime Minister has been appointed not elected. "Worse, Heard added, "the party that was overwhelmingly elected to represent the Palestinian people have been labeled terrorist and have been excluded and demonized. Egyptian and Jordanian Foreign Ministers Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Abdel Illah Al-Khatib are due in Israel today to officially present the Arab peace proposal in which the countries of the region would formally recognize Israel in return for the return of Arab lands seized in the 1967 war. Currently, only Egypt and Jordan from the Arab world have formal ties with Israel after signing peace treaties, hence their foreign ministers being the ones dealing directly with Israel.
