MID: Quartet will talk to Hamas if it recognises Israel: Blair
21 Jan 2009 11:20 PM
ABU DHABI, Jan 21 AFP - Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair says the diplomatic Quartet will deal with Hamas if the Islamist movement accepts a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"The Quartet has always said it is prepared to talk to Hamas provided that Hamas is part of a government that is on terms that are consistent with the two-state solution," said Blair, who represents the four principals of the Quartet -- Europe, Russia, the United States and the United Nations.
"The issue is not whether we talk to Hamas or not. The issue is whether there is a basis for talking that allows us to make progress on the two-state solution," he told reporters on Wednesday on the sideline of an energy summit in Abu Dhabi.
The Quartet has endorsed a roadmap that calls for a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully alongside a secure Israel.
Blair said he supported a call by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for the formation of a national unity government, which the issued in the wake of the devastating Israeli offensive on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
But the former British prime minister said such unity would have to be effected on the "right terms" and which would lead the Islamist movement to recognise the state of Israel.
"We all want Palestinian unity, including with Hamas, but it has to be on the right terms. It has got to be on terms consistent with the two-state solution. That is the issue now," Blair stressed.
"What has to be explored over the coming period of time is what are the possibilities of getting that agreement and reconciliation that are on terms consistent with peace and not with conflict," he added.
On Sunday, Blair said that a Saudi-initiated Arab initiative for peace in the region was "not dead" despite Israel's lethal 22-day war on the Gaza Strip.
Israel's onslaught, aimed at destroying Hamas' military capabilities, killed at least 1,300 Palestinians, wounded 5,300 and left large swathes of the territory in ruins.
