Blair to offer a new Middle East peace initiative next week

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he will submit during the next Quartet meeting next week a British initiative for achieving peace in the Middle East.

He said this initiative was discussed during the talks with US President George Bush and the leaders of the G-8 group during the summit recently held in Georgia.

Blair said the aim of his initiative is to build on the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza to become a beginning of an operation that could end with a final peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Reacting to media reports, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said the Egyptian role in Gaza is a safety belt for the Palestinian leadership and people and not for Sharon.

Premier Qurei rejected the notion of abandonment by Fatah Movement of its military faction known as Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

However, he called for turning resistance into another form other than armed struggle to conform to requirements of the current stage.