Tony Blair is to meet Palestinian leaders to press them into making widespread reforms of the Palestinian Authority as part of international efforts to kick-start the moribund Middle East peace process.
Amid a new escalation of violence in the Occupied Territories ahead of Israel’s elections at the end of this month, Britain will host a conference of senior Palestinian leaders in London on 14 January.
The agenda will be dominated by the issue of reform of the authority but among those expected to attend are key players in the search for a lasting peace. Among those expected are William Burns, America’s envoy involved in negotiating a ‘final status’ agreement on the Middle East, Russia and the European Union.
As a sign of the increased involvement of the Prime Minister in efforts to agree on a ‘road map’ for movements towards final status talks, the Palestinian Authority has been asked to brief Blair on the reform programme.
The disclosure that the Prime Minister will be personally briefed by the Palestinians comes comes after a week in which he discussed the continuing crisis between Palestinians and Israelis with both the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, and King Abdullah of Jordan.
It also follows Blair’s promise last year as the US-led war on terrorism got under way that he would work towards holding a conference on final status talks by the end of 2002.
Although that Middle East peace conference did not take place, Blair appears to have thrown himself into the issue with fresh vigour as he has been faced with the prospect of British involvement in an increasingly likely war against Iraq that is deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
The discussions with Jordan and Egypt follow Blair’s talks last month with President Assad of Syria, during his state visit to London.
Britain and the US have decided to divide the work of securing agreement on the US-drawn road map, with Britain working on Arab governments and America left to win over Israel. – Guardian Unlimited Â