Quds, July 24, SPA--Setting out with optimism, Tony Blair urged Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday to seize on a «sense of possibility,» and made plans to set up a permanent office in the region to pursue his mission of laying the groundwork for Mideast peace, AP reported. Blair, who visited the region several times during his decade as Britain's prime minister, told the Palestinians his maiden trip as envoy for the «Quartet» of Mideast mediators was intended to gather input for formulating his strategy, officials said. He was to have a working dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before leaving early Wednesday. Blair was to return in early September and hoped to have an office in place in Al-Quds for a full time staff. His spokesman said conversations about office space at a U.N. complex were at an early stage, and that Blair himself plans to spend about one week every month in the area. «I think there is a sense of possibility, but whether that sense of possibility can be translated into something, that is something that needs to be worked at and thought about over time,» Blair said after meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres. Peres, speaking at Blair's side, added a note of caution to his own optimism. «I feel there is a serious window of opportunity to advance peace. I don't know the duration of this opportunity, I am afraid it is not too long.» Blair has been tasked by the Quartet _ the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia _ to prepare the foundations for a stable, economically strong West Bank government that could lead the Palestinians into statehood, but to leave the hard political issues at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict alone.
