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Tony Blair to Address U.S. Panel On Iraq,
Middle East Policy
12.11.2006
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LONDON, November
11, -- Prime Minister Tony Blair will speak via
video link with officials from the Iraq Study Group
on Tuesday to discuss "U.K. ideas on Iraq and the
Middle East," a Blair spokeswoman said Saturday.
The spokeswoman declined to detail what Blair would
say to the bipartisan U.S. panel, which is chaired
by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and
Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman
from Indiana.
The panel, which is expected to make recommendations
on Iraq policy by the end of the year, is widely
seen as having the respect of the Bush
administration and Democrats, who regained control
of both houses of Congress in Tuesday's midterm
elections. |
British Prime Minister Tony Blair |
Blair has been President Bush's chief foreign ally
in the conflict and has nearly a decade of
experience dealing with Middle East issues.
The Guardian newspaper on Saturday reported that
Blair would urge the panel to push the Bush
administration to begin talks with Syria and Iran to
persuade those two countries to become more involved
in finding a solution to the situation in Iraq.
The newspaper also reported that Blair would press
Baker and Hamilton to recommend that any solution in
Iraq depends on the United States making a
"reenergized push for peace in the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
The Blair spokeswoman, speaking on condition of
anonymity, as is customary here, called the
newspaper's report "speculation."
But Blair has expressed similar sentiments in the
past, and analysts here said his view that Syria
could play a constructive role in Iraq diverges from
the U.S. position.
The Bush administration has been reluctant to
discuss Iraq with Iran and Syria, which
administration officials widely regard as supporters
of terrorism and obstacles to establishing a
democratic government in Iraq.
Blair sent a top-level envoy, Nigel Sheinwald, to
Damascus, the Syrian capital, this month to meet
with high-level officials. Blair officials have
declined to discuss the details of Sheinwald's
visit, including whether he met with Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad.
A Blair spokesman said only that Syria has a "key
relationship" with Iraq and that Syria "faced a
choice: It can play a constructive role in
international affairs or it can continue to support
terrorism."
The Blair spokeswoman characterized the prime
minister's conference with the Iraq Study Group as a
"discussion" that would build on previous sessions
the panel has held with lower-ranking British
officials. She said she was unsure whether Blair or
the panel had requested the discussion.
washingtonpost com
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