Middle East envoy Tony Blair said on Friday he hoped that a package of measures would be announced in the next few days that would lead to indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Reuters. Blair declined to spell out what measures the package would contain. "I think that will become clear as the days unfold, frankly," he told Reuters in an interview. "I hope very much that in the next few days we will have a package that gives people the sense that yes, despite all the difficulties of the past few days, it is worth having proximity talks and then those leading to direct negotiations," he said. The former British prime minister was speaking after a meeting in Moscow of the quartet of Middle East mediators from the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations. Israel last week unveiled plans to build 1,600 housing units near occupied East Jerusalem, jeopardising indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians that the United States announced days earlier after months of effort. Blair, the envoy representing the quartet, said both sides had to build confidence if the process was to be credible. He singled out the Israeli settlement announcement as an example of what could thwart the start of talks that ultimately aim to create a viable Palestinian state. "I think there is a continuing discussion about settlement construction and so on and obviously it's very important that neither party does anything that disrupts the possibility of getting the talks going," Blair said. SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT 'UNHELPFUL' "The only thing that will give people confidence that meaningful negotiation can take place is if things aren't done that disrupt this process, which is why the announcement on settlements was unhelpful," Blair added. But Blair could not put a timeframe on when he thought a Palestinian state might be created. The quartet statement on Friday said a settlement deal leading to such a state should be reached within 24 months of the start of direct negotiations. "I think it depends very critically on the Palestinians themselves taking the measures for statehood, which Prime Minister (Salam) Fayyad is doing in security, rule of law, building institutions and getting the economy working." "And the Israelis - where the Palestinians are making those moves - to respond, to lift the weight of occupation," he said. "Now if that happens, and we can also get a more sensible, more humane policy in relation to Gaza, then we can move it forward quickly." As British premier, Blair led a marathon negotiating effort to bring peace between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland after decades of violence. Along with another veteran of the Northern Ireland peace process, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, Blair is now trying to cajole Palestinians and Israelis into talks. Blair said he was optimistic about the prospects for peace. "Anyone who has been through these processes, and I went through this in Northern Ireland many times, there's always going to be ups and downs. It's always going to be like that, it's always going to be turbulent...difficult, but you've just got to keep going," Blair said.
