Blair embarks on Middle East 'Mission Impossible'

"Mission Impossible" is what the sceptics have, inevitably, already dubbed the newly retired British prime minister's mandate as the envoy for the four-power Quartet - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.

But Blair has said he has hopes of helping to solve a critical global problem. His spokesman described a meeting in Amman with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib as "positive" before Blair flew on to Tel Aviv for meetings later in Jerusalem.

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Khatib and his Egyptian counterpart are due to visit Israel on Wednesday for a landmark visit to promote an Arab League peace proposal.

Blair is not expected to say much in public. He comes "very much in listening mode", his spokesman said last week.

He will meet Israel's foreign and defence ministers as well as a top American diplomat in Jerusalem on Monday before talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in nearby Ramallah.

Although Blair spoke last week of his hopes of progress, a jaded sense of deja vu pervades both Israeli and Palestinian society - those few Israeli and Palestinian newspapers that devoted space to his arrival betrayed no optimism about it.

Blair was asked by the Quartet simply to present by September an initial plan for building ruling institutions needed to establish a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.

But that more limited mandate could expand later into a more direct peacemaking role between the parties, diplomats say.

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Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, made clear Israel saw Blair's role as supporting Palestinian institutions: "Seeing their capacity to rule grow will definitely help the bilateral track," she told reporters.

Blair faces serious obstacles to success in a role that has doomed his predecessors' efforts. A Palestinian state seems more remote than ever, with their territories divided between Hamas Islamists in the coastal Gaza Strip and Abbas's secular Fatah faction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank inland.

Israel's government may be too weak to deliver concessions such as the withdrawal of Jewish settlements. Many Arabs resent Blair's role in invading Iraq, and the Quartet remains divided over whether he should have a broader negotiating mandate.

In his favour may be eagerness among leaders on both sides to raise their stock at home by showing progress toward peace.

A close relationship with U.S. President George W. Bush may give added clout to Blair, a relatively youthful 54-year-old successful in peacemaking in his Northern Irish backyard.

Critics of both US and British foreign policy, however - of which there is no shortage - wonder if his relationship with Bush may prove more of a hindrance than a help.

Abbas wants Blair to pressure Israel to ease its military grip on the West Bank and take steps to accelerate negotiations.

For Hamas in Gaza, spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Blair must deal with the Islamist movement and avoid "double standards".

Instead of a broad peacemaking role, the Quartet asked Blair to raise funds for the Palestinians, help build their governing institutions and promote their economic development.

But diplomats say Blair may seize a mediation role despite U.S. and Israeli qualms. Israel favours a narrower mandate for Blair that would leave the United States in charge of any talks.