BBC : Blair to meet Palestinian leader

Blair to meet Palestinian leader

BBC News | September 10, 2006

Tony Blair is to meet the president of the Palestinian Authority on the second day of his visit to the Middle East.

The prime minister's meeting with Mahmoud Abbas comes a day after he met the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Mr Olmert said he was ready to meet the Palestinian leader to advance peace efforts. It follows Mr Abbas's calls for fresh negotiations with Israel.

Mr Blair will not be meeting the leaders of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government.

Britain, like the rest of the EU, is boycotting the Hamas administration.

The prime minister's visit to the Middle East comes amid the continuing row over when he leaves office.

Brown offers challenge to critics

Mr Blair said the stability of the Middle East was essential to the rest of the world, including the UK.

Speaking of the recent Lebanon conflict, Mr Blair said he wanted to work to make sure the UN resolution which ended the conflict was fully implemented.

Mr Olmert said he was ready to begin talks with Mr Abbas to advance peace efforts.

The EU has insisted Hamas recognises Israel's right to exist before there can be any dialogue with the administration.

Children protesting in the West Bank town of Hebron
There have been protests in the West Bank town of Hebron

But Hamas argues the real problem has been Mr Blair's attachment to the US, which it says views the Middle East from Israel's perspective.

Civil servants, including teachers, have gone on strike because of wage freezes prompted by the EU boycott.

"There is a crisis. The economy is level zero. The security situation is very hard," Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the news agency AFP.

The BBC's Alan Johnston, in the West Bank, said Mr Abbas's camp would "welcome Mr Blair's efforts to re-energise the peace process".

But he added: "There is a widespread contempt for Mr Blair among Palestinians.

"They regard him as having done virtually nothing to support their efforts to end the Israeli occupation here."