Blair in first Quartet meeting

MADRID – Former British prime minister Tony Blair was holding talks yesterday with Spanish leaders to brief them ahead of a Middle East Quartet meeting later in the day in Lisbon, Spanish and British diplomatic sources said.

Blair, the Quartet’s new special envoy, comes to the role amid a renewed US push for peace which will see US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov all attend the Lisbon talks. Blair was meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos – a former EU Mideast envoy – and was due to head straight to Lisbon in the early afternoon without first holding a press conference, diplomatic sources said.Zapatero and Blair last met at the Brussels summit four weeks ago at which they also discussed the Middle East.On that occasion, Zapatero stressed Spain was keen to lend whatever support and practical help it could to the Quartet, Spanish diplomatic sources said.Blair’s was named Middle East envoy after he stood down as prime minister on June 27.But the appointment has been controversial, with critics claiming his reputation as an ‘honest bloke’ is tarnished because of Britain’s intervention in Iraq and his perceived pro-Israeli, pro-US stance during his 10 years as prime minister.Nampa-AFPBlair was meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos – a former EU Mideast envoy – and was due to head straight to Lisbon in the early afternoon without first holding a press conference, diplomatic sources said.Zapatero and Blair last met at the Brussels summit four weeks ago at which they also discussed the Middle East.On that occasion, Zapatero stressed Spain was keen to lend whatever support and practical help it could to the Quartet, Spanish diplomatic sources said.Blair’s was named Middle East envoy after he stood down as prime minister on June 27.But the appointment has been controversial, with critics claiming his reputation as an ‘honest bloke’ is tarnished because of Britain’s intervention in Iraq and his perceived pro-Israeli, pro-US stance during his 10 years as prime minister.Nampa-AFP