Blair's Mission Impossible Begins

Daily Express Headline; says: 'Tony Blair kicked off his Middle East peace mission yesterday as the international community’s new envoy to the region, and immediately held meetings with Jordan and Israel.The former Prime Minister had just arrived in the region for his new post as envoy for the so-called Quartet. His new job – labelled “Mission: Impossible” by sceptics – began quietly in what Mr Blair’s spokesman called “listening mode”.

First he went to the Jordanian capital Amman, where he spoke to foreign minister Abdul Ilah Khatib. He then left for Jerusalem for talks with Israel’s foreign minister Tzipi Livni. The Quartet – which consists of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union – has asked Mr Blair to present a plan for the groundwork of a Palestinian state to live alongside Israel. Today, he will meet Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah. After that there will be further talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert.

“This is a preliminary visit to hear the views of key Israelis and Palestinians about the issues that have to be addressed in order to fulfil the demanding mandate Mr Blair has taken on,” his spokesman said.