U.S. seeks swift deal on Blair as Middle East envoy
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The Bush administration expects Western powers to agree to name Tony Blair as their Middle East envoy soon after he steps down as British prime minister on Wednesday, diplomats said.
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Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that a two-state solution is the &quot;absolute priority&quot; to bring peace to the Middle East amid speculation he is to become an envoy there.
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International mediators meeting in Jerusalem were expected to name the British prime minister, Tony Blair, as the senior envoy in the region.
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Middle East peace envoy Tony  Blair said he believes both Israelis and Palestinians want  peace and a deal can be brokered by the end of this year.
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Tony Blair will fly to Washington this week to launch a new Middle East peace initiative alongside George Bush, in a bid to show he can reap the rewards of the special relationship.
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Leaders of the Middle East Quartet meet former prime minister Tony Blair here Thursday, with the focus on his role as their new special envoy against a backdrop of a renewed US push for peace.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - Tony Blair said on Tuesday he saw possibilities in his first visit to the Middle East as an international envoy but cautioned it was too early to tell whether they could be translated into concrete results.
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair was flying to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush expected to focus on the future of Middle East peace following the death of Yasser Arafat.
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The White House is pushing for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be made a special envoy to work on forming a Palestinian state in the unstable Middle East after he steps down, reports said Thursday.
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WASHINGTON  - British Prime Minister Tony Blair sought consensus with U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday to make peace in the Middle East an urgent priority, exploring whether the death of Yasser Arafat offers new avenues for restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks.
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Middle East mediators held talks that could clear the way for the appointment of Tony Blair on Tuesday as their envoy to try to revive peace prospects after Hamas Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip.
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The United States is resisting pressure from Europe to expand the mandate of new Middle East quartet envoy Tony Blair as it tries to preserve its control over the Israel-Palestinian dossier.
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JERUSALEM -- Western powers struggled yesterday to finalize a role for outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as Middle East envoy in their bid to revive peace prospects after Islamist Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip.
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Western powers have agreed to name outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as Middle East envoy, as a bid to revive peace prospects after Islamist Hamas's takeover of Gaza, an official in Washington said on Tuesday.
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The United States will keep leading  Middle East peace efforts with Tony Blair playing a  complementary role as envoy to the Quartet of mediators,  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.
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WASHINGTON -- In his new role as Middle East envoy, Tony Blair will be charged with shoring up Palestinian institutions, but not with trying to nail down a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians because Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, is handling that job herself, administration officials said yesterday.
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has pushed for progress on Middle East peace talks and is one of the United States&#39; closest allies, will meet with President Bush next week, the White House said on Saturday.