Published: Mar 8, 2010 22:07 Updated: Mar 8, 2010 22:54
CAIRO: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday told reporters in Cairo that there was "no hope" for Palestinians unless they have an independent state.
Blair's remarks after meeting Arab League head Amr Moussa came amid a fresh international push to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks, which were suspended in 2008.
"For people in Jenin, Gaza, and everywhere in the occupied territories, there is no hope unless they have a state," said Blair, who now represents The Middle East Quartet - an informal grouping of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
The blockade of the Gaza Strip and disputes over the expansion of Israeli settlements would continue "unless we get direct negotiations which lead to an independent and viable Palestinians state," he said.
His statements came just as US Vice-President Joe Biden was due to arrive in the region. Biden is expected to announce a new round of indirect, US-brokered "proximity" talks between Israelis and Palestinians, following Arab states' approval of the talks last week.
Blair's remarks also followed Israel's approval Monday of plans to construct 112 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, not far from Bethlehem.
"Whatever doubts there are regarding the talks, there are no other options," Blair said. "Whether the talks succeed or fail, we have to give them a chance."
Members of the Arab League, in giving the nod to indirect Israeli- Palestinian talks, backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' contention that there would be "no point" in resuming direct talks while Israeli construction continued in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Blair's comments also came amid new efforts to resume indirect talks between Israel and Syria, one of main backers of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Damascus Sunday that his country was determined to restart indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria.
"We will work hard to move from the indirect talks to the direct talks," Davutoglu told reporters after meeting Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad in the Syrian capital.
Syria hosts senior members of Hamas' political leadership in Damascus, and is widely seen as having influence over the group, which has predicted that indirect talks would prove "futile."
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