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| Blair encourages Olmert and Abbas to meet
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British prime minister Tony Blair
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JERUSALEM (EJP)--- British prime minister Tony Blair appears to have succeeded in encouraging Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to agree to meet each other.
Blair escaped the uncertainty over his leadership of the Labour party back home when he arrived in Israel on Saturday night, and immediately set about his task of getting the so-called roadmap to peace back on track.
He first held talks with Olmert in Jerusalem on Saturday and then defied protests from Palestinians to meet with Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday.
Following his meeting with Olmert, Blair stressed that he was not using the Middle East visit to deflect attention away from the continuing battle for leadershp of his party and the premiership of Britain.
Since last week there has been bitter infighting in the Labour party, with many people calling for Blair’s resignation. On Saturday he confirmed he would vacate his position as prime minister within a year but refused to set a date for his departure.
Passionate about peace
Blair’s apparent support for Israel and refusal to call for a ceasefire at the start of the 34-day conflict between Israel and Lebanon in July was one of the main factors which encouraged more traditional left wing Labour supporters to turn against him.
Speaking alongside Olmert at a news conference in Jerusalem, Blair said: “"People can be as cynical as they like, but I’ve been passionate about this issue (Mideast peace) for many years and I’m not going to stop trying on it.”
He added: “It’s very important that we see what we can do to re-energize this process. We are in a very preliminary stage of debating and talking about these things, but I hope very much that in the time to come that we can make progress."
Since the kidnap of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by a Palestinian group in Gaza, and then the start of the Israel-Hezbollah war, relations between Israel and the Palestinians have moved to a much lower position.
The election of a Hamas government in February this year forced Israel and the international community to abandon peace talks with Israel until Hamas accepts Israel’s right to exist and previous agreements between the Palestinians and Israel and denounces violence.
However, the international community and Israel has still accepted Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the slightly more liberal Fatah party, as a potential peace partner, even though his power has been much diminished since Hamas’s ascension.
Olmert told the news conference that he would be willing to hold talks with Abbas.
“I told Prime Minister Blair that I intend to meet with Chairman Abbas in order to make real progress on the outstanding issues on our mutual agenda," Olmert said. "The issue that is our first priority with the Palestinians naturally is the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit."
Abbas confirms he is ready
Although neither leader gave any timescale for a potential meeting, Abbas echoed Olmert’s comments at a news conference in Ramallah on Sunday.
"I stand fully ready to meet the prime minister... without prior conditions and we are ready to begin immediately the preparations for this meeting," Abbas said.
In Ramallah, Blair spoke about a “window of opportunity” and of his belief that a Palestinian national unity government could be enough to gain the acceptance of the international community.
“I believe that such a government, based on the Quartet requirements, does offer the possibility of re-engagement by the international community," Blair said. “And I would like to say that so far as I’m concerned, that if such a government is formed, then I believe that is right that the international community deal with such a government.”
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