Blair optimistic about Mideast peace talks

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'Kind of momentum'
Ahead of the meeting, Rice and Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, rejected any dealings with Hamas.

“Hamas, I think, knows what is expected for international respectability,” Rice told a news conference in Lisbon shortly before the Quartet principals met with Blair.

She said Hamas must recognizes Israel’s right to exist and renounces terrorism, and ruled out its participation in an upcoming peace meeting called by President Bush for the fall.

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Hamas’s power grab in Gaza split the Palestinian leadership. But it also led Israel and others to seek ways to shore up Abbas.

On Thursday, a top PLO body gave Abbas preliminary approval for new presidential and legislative elections. The high-stakes gamble was meant to sideline Hamas, but also was bound to set off new confrontations with the Islamic militants and cement the West Bank-Gaza divide.

Rice said she sensed a “kind of momentum” building in Middle East peace efforts, including Blair’s appointment as Quartet envoy and Bush’s call for a meeting this fall between Israel, the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states.

Rice defends Blair
On her way to Lisbon, she said Blair’s debut as envoy could breathe new life into peace efforts.

At the same time, she defended the decision to limit Blair’s mandate. She said his role would complement U.S.-led diplomatic efforts and that there was plenty of work for everyone.

“This is a very skilled, respected, historic figure in many ways in the world, who is absolutely dedicated to democracy, to building a better Middle East,” Rice told reporters aboard her plane.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, no stranger to Middle East peace efforts, said Wednesday that he saw no solution to the conflict other than engaging with Hamas. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU.

“I think you’d have to find some way to talk to Hamas,” Powell said in an interview with National Public Radio. “As unpleasant a group they may be, and as distasteful as I find some of their positions, I think that through the Middle East Quartet ... or through some means, Hamas has to be engaged.”