The Middle East Quartet's envoy, Tony Blair, is due to have talks in Amman Sunday with Jordan's King Abdullah II on moves to jump-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, officials said. The discussions are expected to focus on preparations under way for convening an international conference on the Middle East this fall that was earlier proposed by US President George W Bush, they added. During a series of meetings last week with prominent regional leaders and French President Nicholas Sarkozy, King Abdullah welcomed the Middle East conference as a step in the right direction, provided it addressed outstanding issues pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The monarch was expected to tell Blair that the proposed meeting should tackle the final status issues of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and frontiers, and lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, Amman-based Arab diplomats were quoted as saying by the German news agency "DPA." Blair, Britain's former prime minister, visits the region for the second time since he was appointed as Quartet representative in July. On Thursday, Blair conferred with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was scheduled to hold a new meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday. Blair is due to submit a report September 23 in New York.
